Chopper of Planet Clara
by Mechanical Oven
Summary: With the destruction of planet Mondrao, Chopper is left all alone on a planet called Clara. Unfortunately, the evil demon knight Maquano decides to show up after destroying Mondrao to destroy the Power Star in order to leave Clara defenseless. Now Chopper must collect the eight Power Star Pieces, face many challenges awaiting, him and stop Maquano in order to save Clara.
1. How It All Began

**When I had first started putting up stories here, I'm sure some people wanted to know more about Chopper and his background. I had a few ideas for his first adventure, but I never got to do much. However, now I've finally decided to get to it, and this is what you're seeing here.**

**And the funny thing is... This is probably the chapter chapter within the story that's probably going to be pretty dark. After that, it's not as much. Well, we'll see how it goes.  
**

**Anyway, this story contains a lot of original characters, so if you're not into that, then this story isn't for you. I do plan on putting some things related to other games in here, though. Hence why it is in the Game X-over section.**

* * *

Chapter 1: How It All Began

On the planet, Mondrao, there lived a small boy in a gray house, by the name of Chopper. As a pale green spherical-shaped creature with skinny arms and white gloves and cuffs, green feet, and two antenna, he was a little odd. He was definitely different than most people of his species by shape. Chopper was watching some TV right now. Right now, a show called "The Ladies Man" was playing, which starred a man named Steve.

_"Hey there, hot stuff!" _Steve greeted as he got in the woman's way. Of course, she wasn't pleased.

_"Ummmmm... I'm trying to look at something. You're in my way."_

_"Yeah, I know," _he began to make some poses and then turned his attention back to her. _"Say, uh… Sniff, sniff… Ya smell nice! Wanna take a whiff of me?" _

"This show is weird..." Chopper trailed as he blinked. He happened to notice the woman taking out pepper spray._  
_

_"Hey! Pepper spray! Don't they use that for…DOOOH AGGHHH!" _the pepper spray went into Steve's eyes, making him fall in the water. This caused Chopper to laugh.

"Heh heh heh… You sure like that show, don't you?" Chopper's father came in the room, whose body was shaped like a thick oval. Right now he was wearing his gold and green armor, with his red cape. His skin color was a lime-green. Oh yeah, and he had a black mustache. The ladies dig that…even though he's married and quite the idiot.

"Yeah! It's really funny!" Chopper giggled.

"Yeah, it gives me a chuckle," Toalune agreed, looking over at the door. "Come on... Where the heck is she?"

"Who?"

"Your mother, duh! That's so obvious!"

Chopper was unsure how to react.

"She's...not here?" Chopper pondered.

"Oh... Tonberria? TONBERRIA?! ...Hang on a sec, son. Lemme grab the TV remote."

Toalune grabbed the remote and changed the channel to something he preferred more compared to Chopper. As for him, when he looked at it, he had frowned.

At that point, the door opened. Walking inside the house was a person with the same kind of body as Toalune, but she was shorter and had a pale green pony-tail with her pale green skin. She was wearing a light blue headband with a yellow star in the center and also light armor that was light blue with brown leather gloves. She also had a green plate on her chest and shoulders. On her back was a bow and quiver. From what they could see, she was a bit annoyed.

"Well, I'm back," Tonberria sighed, putting down her bow and quiver. She looked over at Toalune with an irritated look. "And why weren't you at the meeting?"

"Isn't it obvious? Sakura Sho-jos is on right now, and I don't wanna miss it!" Toalune answered loudly. "I even decided to bring Chopper back to watch it too!"

"Wait, what?" Tonberria saw Toalune watching an anime called "Sakura Sho-jos", (Cherry Blossom Girls), which starred four anime girls that had magical abilities involving cherry blossoms. To a lot of people, it sounded dumb, but for otakus like Toalune, it was heaven.

"Daddy, I don't like the looks of this..." Chopper trailed, covering his eyes.

"C'mon, Chopper! Ya gotta man up! Especially when these girls a pretty!" Toalune explained, even though the girls were around sixteen years old. Tonberria's eyes shot wide open, and she quickly turned off the TV. "Hey! What was that for?!"

"Toalune! You know that show's not for Chopper!"

"Aw, come on, Tonberria! It's not like he's going to pay attention to them than real girls."

"Well he will if he keeps seeing this. And isn't this anime for the older audience? Or is it something otakus love mostly?"

"What's an otaku?" Chopper asked, looking confused.

"Well, we like staying up at 9:30 to watch these shows!" Toalune mentioned, which made Tonberria look up at the clock and gasp.

"…Oh, no! It's past your bedtime, Chopper!" she grabbed Chopper and carried him upstairs to his room, where there was a blue carpet and a spacey wall. There was even a TV, but it had parental controls on it (considering that he's only four).

"I can't believe I forgot about your bedtime. Oh well. I'm sure that will never happen again. Good night, Chopper." Tonberria put Chopper in his nice little bed, tucked him in, and kissed his forehead. She slowly closed the door while smiling at Chopper and went downstairs.

Little did she know that this would be the last time she would ever give Chopper a goodnight sleep.

* * *

**Unknown ship-**

"So… This is the planet... I expected it to be much bigger in size." a knight in a black helmet with three gray spikes pointing up, red glowing eyes, red body armor with some parts being black, black gauntlets with a red stripe on them, gray pants with black armor on it, a red kneecap, red pauldrons with black spikes on them, a light black cape, and black boots with a red stripe going down was looking at a dark-looking crystal ball. "Well, unfortunately, this planet will be meeting its doom pretty soon."

"Nyeah heh heh har! These fools will be in shock when they discover what will happen to them and their home!" a short, red wizard with a black robe and wizard's hat, a wand with a red orb on it, a gray beard, a monocle, and also a red broomstick with spikes at the ending part was beside the demon knight.

"Pipe down, Camikon," the demon knight told his wizard, gesturing him to stay quiet. "So I heard that there are a group of Star Warriors on this planet, too... Others, on the other hand..." Maquano used his dark magic to reveal a bedroom with Chopper sleeping in bed, sucking his thumb. He felt disgusted by the image, so he changed it to another image. It was another bedroom, but with the lights off and a TV on.

"Oh! Lord Maquano! Don't show THAT…" Camikon covered his eyes in horror.

"Camikon... It's just a television show with rabbits."

"I know, but it looks so...horrifying!"

"Bleh. Fine." Maquano made the dark crystal ball show the outside of the house instead. "There. That's better. I have no idea why this ball showed…whatever that show was. Hmmm…"

"What is it, Your Evilness?"

"…Destroying the planet would be too easy. I want to see these people _fight _against us. We'll send the Tartaras down there and see how well these people can hold their own. Then we'll obliterate them all."

"Nyeah hah hah hah har! What an excellent idea! I like the sound of that! I can feel my facial hair jumping for joy!"

"…What? I'm sorry, but don't you EVER say that again," Maquano rose his arms, and flames surrounded the volcanic room, making some black and red monster-like dragonish beings appear, which were a little hunched back, but in some flaming armor with assault rifles. They had some sharp teeth too to make them more intimidating. Some of them were actually bigger than their leader. "My fellow Tartaras! We have some unwanted guests to destroy! Come with me and we shall take care of them!"

"But, Lord Maquano! We haven't had lunch yet!" one of the Tatara Soldiers cried out.

"Fine. You can eat your lunch, but make it quick. But when your done, you're immediately going to Mondrao, OK?"

"Yes, Lord Maquano!" the Tataras saluted and teleported out of the vicinity. Maquano grinned, satisfied that his minions were going to go out and shoot some people on Mondrao.

* * *

**The next day-**

Out on the sidewalk of the planet, Toalune was walking with Chopper. They were going to be having a little father-son picnic that was going on today. That's why they were carrying a picnic basket. Tonberria didn't come because it's a father-son one, and most of the time, a mother doesn't go to one.

They saw a blue spherical-shaped creature kind of like Chopper in a mask with glowing yellow eyes, a blue cape which is wrapped around himself and also purple metallic shoes. He walked past them, but Toalune turned around.

"Well, hey, Meta Knight, buddy! I didn't know you were here!" Toalune gaped. The masked man, known as Meta Knight, turned around. He didn't say much, but he walked over to the two.

"Toalune… I was just looking for you, actually." Meta Knight mentioned as he looked down at Chopper, who was a little smaller than him. He felt a strange connection between them for some reason… His eyes even turned to a green color. "…Who's this boy you have with you?"

"Who? Chopper? Didn't I tell you before? This is my son! We're just going on a little father-son picnic!"

"No. Now's not the time for a picnic. You see… A while ago, I stumbled upon a red and black starship. Some reptilian, dragon lizards came out of it with a small wizard and their leader, a demon knight. They began to attack the forest, destroying whatever was in sight."

"What? …Maybe this was what Tonberria was talking about." Toalune realized. "Dang! Why did I think it was a prank pulled off by a fourteen year old?! …Oh! Sorry, son! I didn't mean to curse out!"

Toalune took out his communicator and began to talk to his wife. "Honey! You remember that prank you said someone pulled out? …Well Sir Meta Knight saw this army of evil fiery dragon lizards attacking the forest!"

_"What? So it wasn't a prank? Great… I shouldn't have ignored that." _Tonberria sighed._ "Toalune, get Chopper back home. We need to go stop those monsters from attacking our planet!"_

"There is no time to take the boy back," Meta Knight objected. "If we go back to your house, we'll be putting more people in danger. I'm sorry, Toalune. You can't listen to your wife."

"Ummm… I'm sorry, dear. Sir Meta Knight said that would be a big risk, and we can't make that. I agree with him too. I'm sorry…" Toalune put away his communicator and sighed.

"Come, Toalune. I've got everyone else ready to fight against them. Come with me. We'll make sure your son is safe." Meta Knight unwrapped himself with his cape and pulled out his golden sword, Galaxia.

"What's going on, Daddy?" Chopper asked. Toalune put his helmet on and picked up his son, sighing.

"An evil demon knight's attacking our planet. If we hold them back, we'll be safe. But if not…" Toalune couldn't imagine what would happen to the planet. "…NO! We can't think about losing! We must focus on winning!"

He began to follow Meta Knight toward the forest with his glowing yellow sword out, ready to fight. He held onto Chopper with his other arm. They knew that going to the forest would be dangerous, because they saw some trees burnt down up ahead.

* * *

**The house-**

Back at the house, Tonberria was trying to contact her husband again, but her signal was blocked. "How could Toalune not listen to me about bringing Chopper back? It's dangerous for a four year old to be out in a battle! Ugh…"

Tonberria grabbed her bow and arrow, and put on her light blue headband, mumbling, "…I have to find him and get Chopper back," as she hurried on out of the house. There was no way she was letting Toalune keep their son with him now.

* * *

**By the forest-**

Near the forest, Toalune saw the sky was covered in dark clouds. Meta Knight said he would meet him in the forest, by a camp they set up. He even gave him a map to tell him where to go.

"All right, Sir Meta Knight. I'll find you soon." Toalune promised. Meta Knight slowly nodded and looked back at Chopper. His cape was gone and he spread his wings out to fly into the forest. Up in the sky, some evil witches could be seen up there.

"Daddy… I'm scared!" Chopper cried.

"I know, Chopper. I know…" Toalune trailed as he saw a couple of Tatara firing at a few buildings, dealing some serious damage to them. "We can't stay here. We gotta go!"

Toalune began to run into the forest, but the Tataras noticed them and began to fire. One with a sword flew over to Toalune and blocked his way.

"Well well well! It looks like we got a father and son! I might as well kill both! It would be better, since leaving a little boy alone will still make him suffer!" the Tatara swung at Toalune, but he parried it and slashed its body with his Sword of Light. He then stabbed the monster's foot to slow it down.

* * *

**In the forest-**

Tonberria made her way into the forest, but she didn't see Toalune in the forest either. She was certainly ticked off, considering that her teeth were clenched.. "When I find you, I'm going to SMACK you for bringing Chopper here!"

Before she could continue on, she heard something from the bush.

"Huh? What's that?" Tonberria pulled out her bow and aimed her Arrow of Light at the bush. She wasn't sure to fire or not, but before she could let go…

"Wait! Don't shoot the arrow!" a tall, muscular warrior came out of the bush, wearing silver armor, a helmet, a silver shield that was on his back, and a sword that was on his belt.

"Jack? Is that you?" she gasped. "What are you doing here? Are there any others?"

"Yeah! We're right at a camp!" Jack nodded. "We're not too far from here. But, why did you come alone? You know these woods are a dangerous place."

"I came looking for my husband. He took Chopper with him, and I'm not happy about it. Is he in camp?"

"Well… Unfortunately he's not. Sir Meta Knight gave him the map, but he hasn't come here. Maybe he gave him the wrong map… But we'll take you to camp so you're safe." Jack led Tonberria to a camp, where they found some logs with other Star Warriors, such as a lavender female named Garlude, an old guy that looked like a ball of fur named Kit Cosmos, and a knight that was similar-looking to Meta Knight with light green and gold armor named Sir Arthur. There were others, but they were normal soldiers. Meta Knight was standing up right at the moment.

"Ah, Tonberria. I'm glad you could make it. It's safe here." Meta Knight assured. "That demon knight, known as Maquano, has not found our camp grounds, so we should be safe here. Unfortunately, your husband's not here."

"Yes, it's been a while… It seems like he could've been lost. I'm starting to get worried…" Garlude said with a worried look. They all looked at the fire, which a boar was being roasted. Everyone was completely silent.

"…I'll go look for him," Meta Knight announced as he got up and began to walk away from the camp.

"Wait! I need to come with you! I NEED to find Chopper!" Tonberria cried.

"Don't worry. If I find your husband and son, I'll make sure they're safe. You can trust me." Meta Knight pulled out Galaxia and headed deeper into the woods.

* * *

**Meanwhile-**

Toalune began to study the map carefully. "I don't think this is the right way… This map… I don't know what it is? It's…pointing somewhere else? Could Meta Knight have given me the wrong map?"

The two were lost in the woods, with Chopper feeling scared. Toalune himself was a bit nervous as well.

"Daddy… Are we going to be safe?" Chopper asked.

"Oh, don't worry… You'll be safe." a voice called out. Toalune turned around and saw Maquano in front of them. Not only that, but it began to rain, which made water droplets fall on them.

"It looks like I finally get my chance of taking down a Star Warrior! I've been waiting for this moment!" Maquano drew his red sword out. The hilt was a black color with the top part curved up.

"I'm not afraid to take you!" Toalune retorted as he drew his sword out too, but Maquano pointed his sword at Chopper.

"I would suggest you put the child down first if you don't want him to get hurt…" Maquano suggested. Toalune simply shook his head and aimed his sword at Maquano.

"I'm keeping Chopper by my side! I'm not going to lose him! You don't know how mad my wife gets when I screw something up!"

"Is that so? Very well… Then I guess I'll help your wife by destroying you both!" Maquano brought his sword up, but before he could strike, he got kicked in the back of the head by Meta Knight, leaving him off guard. He landed on the wet ground while gripping Galaxia.

"Meta Knight! Boy, am I GLAD to see you!" Toalune sighed in relief.

"Toalune, I must get you two to safety!" Meta Knight shouted. Maquano turned his attention back to Toalune, who gave him a brave look.

"No… Meta Knight, this bozo challenged me to a battle. I accepted it. I ain't changing my mind now."

"Toalune, you have no idea who you're going up against!"

"I said I ain't changing my mind! Now stand aside and let me battle this freak!"

"Hmph... So be it..." Meta Knight sighed. "I won't stop you."

"Thanks... But can you do me a favor…" Toalune brought Chopper over to him. "Take my son to a safe place, will you?"

"When will you be back, daddy?" Chopper asked.

"I'm... I'm not sure, son..." Toalune trailed, closing his eyes. "But I just want to let you know that I love you, son."

"Well I love you too, daddy..."

Meta Knight put Galaxia away and grabbed a hold of Chopper, who looked at his dad and then back at Maquano.

"Listen Toalune, I will come back to you once I put your son somewhere safe," Meta Knight stated. "However, I won't interfere with your battle."

"Good. Now go!"

Meta Knight nodded and spread his wings out before he flew off with Chopper, with Toalune waving goodbye to him.

"Now, then… We were going to fight, right?" Toalune brought his attention back to Maquano.

"Of course..." Maquano grinned. "However, I will let you know that no one has ever managed to beat me! So you're pretty much asking for a death wish..."

"I doubt it," Toalune retorted, getting his sword out. "You don't look so tough!"

"Oh, really? Why don't you prove it?"

"All right! Here I come!"

Toalune let out a battle cry and charged at Maquano with all his might.

* * *

**The house-**

Back at Chopper's house, Meta Knight flew down to the front door. He opened the door (which was thankfully unlocked) and put Chopper down.

"Stay here, Chopper. You will be safe in here." Meta Knight assured. "I would take you to the camp grounds, but that would put you in even more risk. You're safe, and that's all that matters. I'm going back to your father."

"Is he going to be OK?" Chopper asked.

Meta Knight froze for a moment. He knew what the outcome would be, but would he really go as far as to tell the truth to someone who was four?

"Well, do you know?" Chopper wondered, not hearing an answer from the knight._  
_

"Ummmmm... Yes. He's going to be fine." Meta Knight nodded. "For now, please stay here. It's probably one of the only safe places around here at the moment..."

"But what will I do?"

"Hmmmmmm... Try to find a way to entertain yourself. Look, I have to get going now. I need to see how your father is doing." Meta Knight turned away and walked outside. His cape began to drag along the dirty ground as it got wet. He spread his wings out and flew off, leaving only Chopper.

"I feel so lonely..." the four year old frowned as he closed the door and walked over to the couch.

* * *

**Thirty minutes later… At the camp ground-**

The rain was getting harder, and the sun had already come down. Everyone was starting to get worried. Toalune, Chopper, AND Meta Knight hadn't come back. Tonberria was worried the most.

Some Galaxy Soldiers had gone off, one being Kit Cosmos. He decided to go back to his ship to go pick up something important to him.

"Oh, dear… I can't believe that all of this is happening… I'm so worried about Chopper right now… I don't feel like I can even smack Toalune now…" Tonberria trailed, her head hung low. Garlude was there to comfort her.

"There, there, Tonberria. They should be back here no problem." Garlude assured. Everyone saw the rain stop, and they heard some rustling coming from the bushes. Everyone had gotten their weapons ready for whatever was hiding in there.

To their surprise, it was Meta Knight.

"Meta Knight!"

Meta Knight raised his arm, gesturing everyone to stay quiet. Everyone obeyed and began to listen to him.

"OK… Tonberria… I'm not sure what to say…" Meta Knight trailed, approaching her. "But I ask you to stay calm. I have some good news…and I have bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

"Well... Maybe..." Tonberria began until she was cut off.

"No… Let me start with the good news first." the masked warrior decided, taking a deep breath. "Your son, Chopper… I was able to bring him back to his house. I thought bringing him back here would put him in more risk of danger. Don't worry, Tonberria. He is safe."

"Oh, thank goodness! I was starting to get worried…" Tonberria sighed in relief.

"…But I'm not done yet. As for the bad news… Well… I went back to see how Toalune was doing. He accepted a duel against Maquano. For the bad news… The bad news is… …It's what I saw there. I saw…" Meta Knight looked at everyone. They were anxious to hear what was going on. He then let out a sigh. "I saw your husband lying motionlessly on the floor."

Everyone stood back in shock, except for Tonberria. From the look of her eyes, it looked like she was going to cry.

"Toalune… He… He's...gone?" Tonberria gasped, feeling tears come down her face.

"I tried to shake him to see if he was awake... He had no pulse. His mouth was left wide open, and even his eyes were open when I found him."

"No... I can't believe it!" Jack sniffled loudly. "Toalune can't be dead!"

"Poor Tonberria..." Garlude was trying to comfort her young friend, but it didn't do much. Tonberria quickly wiped her tears away.

"…I guess that means this Maquano is a true threat…" Tonberria trailed. Everyone looked up to see a huge ship charging up a beam. It was so big, that it could wipe out an entire planet.

"That ship's huge! Oh my gosh… Are they planning on wiping the entire planet?" Jack asked.

"We gotta get out of here!" one soldier cried.

"Yes, we must get the ships and evacuate immediately!" Sir Arthur ordered. "We must round all the people up and leave!"

"But how is that possible? Do you know how many people there are on Mondrao?!" Garlude gaped.

"Guys! Guys!" the soldiers stopped arguing when they noticed Kit Cosmos running back to camp. "Something terrible's happened!"

"Report at once," demanded Meta Knight, who wrapped himself with his cape.

"Well... The ships! Those nasty creatures blew 'em up!"

"What?! How was that possible?!" Jack gaped.

"Actually, not everyone's ships. Most of them, however, were."

"What about mine?" Garlude asked.

"Yours is fine. Sir Meta Knight's is good too. My ship and Sir Arthur's is still there."

"Great... And those ships we brought here can only carry one person..." Sir Arthur sighed.

"You have any ideas, Sir Meta Knight?" Garlude asked.

"Unfortunately, I don't," Meta Knight said, slowly shaking his head. "I did not think this far ahead..."

"So, what? We're all going to die" Jack gaped. "Can't we squeeze into your ships?"

"The cockpits are too small, even for someone like you," Sir Arthur replied. "We can't fit your kind in there."

"I think there's one thing we can do," Tonberria interrupted as she looked up at the group.

"And you have an idea, lady?" Kit Cosmos asked. "What makes you think your plan will work?"

"Kit Cosmos! Let her speak!" Garlude snapped. "She just recently found out her husband was killed! Don't be so insensitive!"

"...Oh! I'm sorry, lady. I didn't know that..."

"So, what is it you wanted to talk about?" Meta Knight asked, walking over to Tonberria.

She pulled out a heart that was the colors of the rainbow. "This is the Sacred Heart that was given by my mother. I kept this with me ever since. This thing has strange powers in it, according to books I've read about it. It could possibly turn a normal person into a supernatural being. However, it selects its host. The one who is chosen by the Sacred Heart will be given powers that fits the person and could possibly be the key to fighting of great evil...such as the person who killed my husband."

"How come you never told us about this?" Jack wondered.

"My mother told me to not tell a soul about this, including my husband. I could only tell when such a time like this would come. I guess that time has finally come..."

She held up the Sacred Heart, which began to float out of her hands and float to the center of the camp. Everyone walked up close to the rainbow heart and saw an imagine of the person who was chosen.

Tonberria was left gasping at the sight of her son on there.

"Oh my gosh..." Tonberria gaped. "I don't believe it... Chopper?"

"These results are very surprising," Garlude commented.

"But why a boy? He's only four!"

"He's too young!"

"My own son was chosen by the Sacred Heart..." Tonberria trailed. "I'm...shocked."

"So what do we do with your son?" Jack asked as Tonberria took the Sacred Heart and walked over to Meta Knight.

"Meta Knight. Please, if I may ask. Could you…take this Sacred Heart to Chopper and get him off this planet? I'm sure you can fit someone his size in your ship. And please tell him to not avenge my death... I don't want him to keep thinking about my death... It will not help him use its power to its full potential. The full potential might be enough to defeat Maquano."

"I will do that," Meta Knight slowly nodded as he took the heart from her he flew off back to Chopper's house. The Star Warriors Garlude, Kit Cosmos and Sir Arthur were told by the soldiers to get out and try to get some help. As much as they didn't want to leave them, they had no choice but to agree and headed back to their ships as quickly as possible.

"So what are we supposed to do? Let ourselves die?" Jack asked. "We could still try to get out of here!"

"We can't do anything else, I'm afraid…" Tonberria trailed. "Our ships were destroyed by those monsters in order to prevent us from escaping. Meta Knight and his fellow Star Warriors were lucky to have theirs in perfect shape, but only one person can fit in each of them, for the exception of Meta Knight - and he's planning on taking Chopper. I honestly hope they can get some help, but I don't know if that's possible. If my son gets out of here, then there's a possible chance he will have the power he needs to defeat Maquano. However, I don't want him to get motivated by avenging his father's...or even my death. It's going to harm him, that's for sure."

"But why would it be someone from your family? It's almost like you were choosing! Or... Something..."

"The Sacred Heart selects its host. I don't. Leaving at least one of us will give us a slim chance on defeating Maquano. But one who is chosen by the heart, that person has a chance…like Chopper."

She closed her eyes as a tear fell down her face. "…And it would be nice to be reunited with my husband after his death. But I feel so terrible for leaving Chopper alone. I'm a bad parent."

"Hey! Don't say something like that! You're not a bad parent! Because of you, Chopper has grown to be a nice little boy! Sure, he's a bit shy, but he's cheerful, right?"

"That doesn't do much to cheer me up, but thanks anyway..." Tonberria frowned. "I just hope Chopper will be safe… Poor little boy…"

All everyone could do was pray for Chopper to leave the planet safely...in silence.

* * *

**The house-**

Back at the house, Chopper was playing with his toy airplane, making an airplane sound as he flew it around. But he stopped when he saw the door knob moving. He felt alarmed, but when he noticed it was Meta Knight, he didn't feel too threatened.

"Huh? You're back again, Meta Knight? How did you get in?" Chopper asked.

"You left the door unlocked," Meta Knight answered. "Your mother wanted me to come here to take you out of here."

"What about my dad? And the people? Why do I need to go? …Is my dad all right, though?"

Meta Knight froze again. He told him that he would be fine, but when he returned, he saw him dead! How was he supposed to explained something like this to him?

He simply sighed and hung his head low while closing his eyes. "…I apologize, Chopper. Your father... He... He's no longer here..."

"What do you mean? Did he leave?" Chopper wondered. "Is he going to come back safely?"

"Chopper..." Meta Knight started, letting out a sigh. "Your father's never coming back. He...died."

At that point, Chopper's eyes were about to water, but he found himself being picked up by Meta Knight and flown out of the house. The Tataras were leaving the planet and returning to the big ship, so it looked like they were getting ready to blow up the planet.

"You see, Chopper? That big ship is going to destroy the planet. Your mother wanted me to get you out of here."

"And everyone else will be safe too, right?" Chopper asked.

"Don't ask questions until we're safe," Meta Knight suggested, finding his starship out by the beach area. The ship had wings that were like his own and his mask up at the front. The bottom part of the ship was purple, while the top was a blue color. Since Chopper was small, he could fit him in.

Meta Knight jumped into the ship and put Chopper in the back. There was plenty of room for someone Chopper's size, so they both had some space. The ship floated up and began to take off. They could see the giant Tatara ship charging up a green beam.

* * *

"Heh heh heh..." Maquano grinned, standing before the button in his ship that would fire the beam. "Say your prayers, Mondrao! You and everyone else on there are history!"

Once the beam was fully charged, the demon knight pressed the button and watched the scene commence.

* * *

"Great… They're firing the beam now. Hold on tight, Chopper. I might have to take a little risk here." Meta Knight prepared his ship to go into hyperspace, but they got off the planet first before doing so.

At this point, they were in space and saw the beam fire down on Mondrao. Chopper watched as the planet blew up with his own eyes. He saw small pieces of the planet floating, leaving no signs of survivors behind.

"Is everyone else all right?" Chopper asked.

"Chopper... I don't think your kind has escaped..." Meta Knight trailed.

"Wha... What do you mean?"

"Everyone is gone on there... You're the only one of your kind left."

"No..." Chopper trailed, putting his hands and face upon the glass window. "Mommy... Daddy..."

Tears began to fall down his face as he watched the remains slowly disappear.

But before he could cry, the ship got struck by a blast from a Tatara Ship. Meta Knight looked back and saw three ships after them. Thankfully, the ship was just about ready to go into hyperspace.

"We may be getting shot, but we can get out of here now. We'll be safe now." Meta Knight's ship went into hyperspace, disappearing out of the ships's sight.

* * *

**Inside the big ship-**

Maquano watched as Meta Knight's ship escaped right in front of him. He slammed his fist on the table in disappointment.

"That ship escaped… Great…" Maquano trailed. "Camikon, have any of those warriors from that planet survived that?"

"Not at all. That blast obliterated every single one of them." Camikon confirmed. "I guess eliminating them on land wasn't worth it, Lord Maquano?"

"It ended up being a waste of time. Though, I did enjoy finishing off that foolish warrior who thought he could defeat me. Too bad he didn't leave that child with me. I could've made fight by my side. I could always use some extra soldiers in my vicinity. Or, I could've just done the same thing I did to his father..." the demon knight pondered. "Now that we blew up that planet, perhaps I should go to planet Clara. I have a castle there, and I know I have minions there too. We could settle there for a bit before destroying it!"

"Oh, excellent choice, Lord Maquano! It's been a while since we've been there! We can set everything up and take the planet over! It's got everything we could dream of! …But what about the ship?"

"Don't bother with it. It's probably just a passing ship. We should just go to Clara now. I hear a Power Star protects that place. If I could destroy it and split it into pieces, that could give me a chance of taking the planet over before blowing it up. Yes… Tataras! Set course to Clara!"

"Yes, my lord!" the Tartaras got the ship ready for hyperspace, and then they took off somewhere else in the galaxy.

* * *

**Starland Galaxy-**

A portal opened and Meta Knight's starship came out of it. They were somewhere else in the Starland Galaxy. A place that was safe, that is.

"You are now in Starland Galaxy," the ship noted as Meta Knight set it on autopilot and turned to Chopper, who was crying over the loss of his home world.

_"Geez... How am I going to deal with a crying kid?"_ Meta Knight thought as he walked over to him. "Chopper..."

"Y-Yes?" Chopper sniffled, looking up at Meta Knight while tears continued to run down his face.

"Chopper… The reason why you were the one to leave the planet is because you were the one chosen by this." Meta Knight pulled out the Sacred Heart, which made Chopper rub the tears off his face and gaze at it.

"A heart chose me? But it doesn't have a mouth and a voice." Chopper noticed as he saw his image in the heart. "Why am I in there?"

"You can see yourself in there, can you not? The person you see in there is who the heart chooses. If you take this, you will have a drastic change to your abilities. You may not exactly be...normal."

"What? But I don't want to change..."

"I'm sure you'll look the same. But if you take this, you might be able to defeat the one who destroyed your father and your home planet. It won't make you invincible, but it will help you."

"OK…" Chopper grabbed the Sacred Heart and felt it absorb into his closed his eyes, but when he didn't feel pain, he opened his eyes and looked at himself. "Hey... Nothing's changed!"

_"Hmmmm... It doesn't seem like he transformed..."_ Meta Knight thought, slowly taking out a cupcake he was saving.

Chopper suddenly felt his stomach growling. When he saw the cupcake in the ship, something had surged into him and caused him to open his mouth and suck in the cupcake like a vacuum. It had quickly gone into his mouth, and he swallowed it whole.

"Huh? What was that?" Chopper gawked.

"So it did change you..." Meta Knight trailed. "Do you feel anything else?"

"Well... Ummmm... I suddenly have the urge to jump and run around..." Chopper mumbled. "I don't know... I never felt this before..."

"I see... Well, now that you got the heart within you, we should find you a new home." Meta Knight got back to his pilot's seat and scanned the planets. "Hmmm… This one… I feel something down here. It's called Clara, and I think this could be a nice home for you. I will help you with your home, and then I will go. I'm sure you can take care of yourself."

"Huh? You're going to leave me on my own?"

"I'm sure with that heart in you, you will be just fine."

"But... But..."

"Hrrmmm... Well, I suppose I could give you a little help, but not much. I can't stay here forever. I have to return to my home planet soon. The king would want me to come back, as well as my servants."

Meta Knight flew the ship down to Clara, while Chopper still began to think about his parents and his entire race. They were all gone. Wiped out by some evil demon knight. Just thinking about it made his fists clench in anger. Maybe with this heart, he could finally get back at Maquano. Just thinking about it made him mad!

Unfortunately, he was not aware of another power within the heart...

* * *

**Well, there you go. That's the first part of this whole story. It's pretty horrific for a four year old to be all alone... But, what can you do?**

**Next chapter, that is when the adventure really starts. At least, for Chopper.**


	2. The Eight Power Star Pieces

Chapter 2: The Eight Power Star Pieces

The huge Tatara ship came out of a giant red portal and was now in the same galaxy that Meta Knight was in. Maquano looked out the huge window while crossing his arms, with Camikon beside him.

"So we're finally here..." Maquano trailed, staring before Clara. "And that Power Star is there as well..."

"Lord Maquano… How do you plan on destroying the Power Star?" Camikon wondered. "In fact, where will the pieces go? You never told me about what we're planning on doing with them…"

Maquano turned around. "I have everything taken care of. I'll split it into eight pieces and entrust them to my most faithful minions. They will take care of those pieces. It's not like anyone will get a hold of them. Speaking of my minions, get them over here, Camikon. Now."

Camikon took out his wand and began to speak to Maquano's strongest minions. At that moment, they started to make their arrival rather quickly. They did not appear to have any resemblance to the Tataras or even Maquano. In fact, they had more of a resemblance to the people of Clara.

"Now then…" Maquano began. "The reason why I sent you seven is because I have a job for you all… I will entrust you with a piece of the Power Star once it's destroyed. There will be eight pieces altogether."

Camikon looked baffled, as there were only seven. "Eight pieces? But Lord Maquano! There are only seven of them! What are you planning on doing with the eighth one?"

"I'll give that one to you, then. As for the planet itself, we will go down there, and I will send our minions out to patrol the areas where all seven of you will hold the Power Star Pieces.

"Wait… Hold on a minute… So we're going down to our castles to guard some piece of a star? That sounds boring…" the first figure trailed.

"Yes, but you're doing what I'm asking you to do. Therefore, you must obey me and not slack off. It's YOUR job to keep it safe so Clara will be mine!"

"Stoneard confused…" the second figure gawked. "Stoneard has to guard weird shiny object? But why would Stoneard do such a thing?"

"If this means sailin' out in the seas, then I'll be doin' this!" the third figure grinned. "Ye got me word, Maquano! I can promise ye that!"

"We have to guard a star? Ugh! This is going to be SO boring!" the fourth figure groaned, giving Maquano a snooty look. "I wanna do something else! You should let me be around my jewelry and my lake!"

"Like I said, you must OBEY all orders I give you," Maquano responded. "You can guard that thing and be around your jewelry at the same time! I know that you are one to slack off, so if you EVER slack off, I'll send you back to your own planet. Fourteen-year-old girls should learn to obey their leaders…"

"Interesting… So the planet will be ours…" the fifth figure smirked in a chilly voice. "Sounds…cool. I shall freeze the star piece just for you, Lord Maquano…"

"Hmph… I'll do as you command." the sixth figure nodded with a smirk. "It doesn't sound too difficult for me."

"Very well, I will accomplish this task…" the seventh figure nodded. "And I will not fail you."

Maquano grinned under his helmet and gave the Tataras the command to bring the ship down to the planet. "Prepare yourself, my minions… For we are heading to Clara!"

* * *

**Clara, jungle continent-**

Meta Knight's starship landed in the jungle, one of the seven continents of Clara. What was interesting about the jungle was that everything around them was huge. The trees, the plants, and even the animals were bigger than what you'd expect a jungle to be like. It felt like everything shrunk.

The starship opened up and Meta Knight jumped out. Chopper jumped out on his own and landed on the ground. The manner that he jumped left him in surprise. He jumped again, noticing that his jumping skills have actually improved.

"Hey... No wonder I felt like I wanted to jump..." Chopper decided to run around as well, noticing how much faster he had become. When he had stopped, he had become dizzy. "I don't feel so good..."

When Chopper fell on his bottom while looking dazed, Meta Knight couldn't help but watch him perform these tasks.

"Interesting..." Meta Knight remarked. "His speed and jumping are significantly better. He's even faster than me..."

Once Chopper had no longer become dazed, he ran over to Meta Knight. The speed had even managed to blow his cape back in the process.

"I feel so fast..." Chopper trailed, looking at Meta Knight. Is that the effect of that rainbow heart, Meta Knight?"

"I believe so... Now, let's go find you a place where you can live." Meta Knight suggested.

"But what if something tries to hurt me? Everything's so big here..."

"Relax, Chopper. I know of this planet, and it's not as dangerous as you believe. Now follow me, please."

Meta Knight took Galaxia out and began to search the jungle, slicing through the vines in his way, with Chopper following behind. Though he was relieved that it wasn't dangerous, he was still pretty nervous.

After searching for fifteen minutes, they found a giant mushroom. It didn't even look like a real mushroom. In fact, it looked like it was an abandoned house. Meta Knight walked over to it and took a look at the mailbox. It looked like there used to be a name, but it was erased, according to a small smear on it. He then looked over at the windows and the door.

"Hmmmm…" Meta Knight grabbed a hold of the knob, and to his surprise, the door opened. When he entered, he was surprised to see furniture, a TV, and an upstairs with a bedroom. However, there didn't appear to be any pictures or a name of who owned this house. Seeing that it was safe, he turned and gave a signal to Chopper to come in. "This house should be good for you. It's got enough room, and it already has furniture. You can stay here if you wish."

"Are you sure?" Chopper asked.

Meta Knight looked down and noticed a piece of paper lying on the table, so he grabbed it and took a look at it.

_Left for anyone._

"Whoever lived in here must have left," Meta Knight said. "Well that's a coincidence. I suppose you can stay here. You do whatever you want with it. It's your place."

"Ummm… OK," Chopper quickly ran around the house, checking everything. He looked at the light yellow walls and the white tiles in the kitchen. There was a silver refrigeration with the freezer being on the left side and also a microwave and oven. "Hey, this looks like a place that's in my house."

"Most houses have those kinds of rooms," Meta Knight mentioned.

"Let me check upstairs," Chopper ran up the stairs, with Meta Knight's cape blowing back from the wind.

_"Hmmm… The Sacred Heart's power is working well with him. That speed…the way he inhaled the cupcake... And his jumping... This could be what he has…" _Meta Knight thought, wrapping his cape around himself again.

After about two minutes, Chopper came back down the stairs. Feeling satisfied, he jumped onto the red sofa and grabbed the TV remote and began to watch TV. However, he didn't have much time, as Meta Knight had turned off the TV.

"We have no time for this."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Chopper gawked. "I was just getting comfy..."

"If you are to fight an evil knight such as Maquano, you must be prepared," Meta Knight informed. "I will train you a little so you can defend yourself, and then you're on your own."

"Wh-What? But I'll be scared..."

"I'm sorry, but I can't babysit you all day. And like I said, that heart should help you along the way... Just come outside, and we shall commence our training."

They walked outside on the lawn, where the grass wasn't huge and was like normal grass. Meta Knight pulled Galaxia out, and the golden sword formed from the yellow energy around the hilt. Chopper now had a closer look at the sword.

"This is Galaxia," Meta Knight began. "It is a sword that has been passed down from my ancestors for many years. Its blade hasn't gotten blunt after all these years. I cared for this sword ever since I was your age."

Meta Knight took out another sword, but this one was silver with a blue handle. He threw it, and it landed in front of Chopper, stabbing the grass. He looked at it with a curious look.

"This looks like one of those things my daddy carried around..." Chopper trailed. "What is it?"

"It's a sword, I suggest you take it," Meta Knight suggested.

Chopper obeyed and grabbed a hold of its handle. He tried pulling it out of the ground, but he struggled to do so. He eventually pulled it out with two hands and felt it shake in his hand. Meta Knight wasted no time, and charged at Chopper, whacking him hard in the cheek with the flat side of his sword.

"You must remember to defend yourself against an attack like that!" Meta Knight advised.

"Ow!" Chopper cried, a tear coming down his face as he rubbed his red cheek. Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to cry over it when Meta Knight continued his assault, swinging at him like before until he kicked him back, causing him to fall on his behind with a bruised face.

"You left your guard down!"

"But... You didn't tell me you'd attack!"

"Your opponent will not tell you when they will attack," Meta Knight said, charging at Chopper again. This time, he had managed to jump in the air to avoid his sword. However, since Meta Knight was more experienced, he had jumped up and swung his sword downward, knocking him to the floor. When he finally got up, Meta Knight pointed his sword at Chopper, but then he changed the angle of his sword. "You are lucky I was using the broader side of my sword. Had I swung at this angle, the results would be disastrous for you..."

"But I don't know how to use that sword thingy..." Chopper mumbled, continuing to rub his cheek.

_"_Hmmmm… _Could he inhale the sword? Perhaps…"_ Meta Knight grabbed Chopper's sword and dropped it near him. "Chopper, I want you to do what you did with that cupcake."

"Wait... You want me to eat that thing?! But what if it hurts..."

"Try anyway."

Chopper listened and opened his mouth to inhale the sword. When it entered his mouth, he was surprisingly not affected by its sharp edge in his mouth. In fact, he managed to swallow it with ease. That was when a green floppy hat with a yellow stripe on the bottom and pom-pom on the tip appeared on his head. In his hand was a sword with a blue handle.

_"Interesting… He inhaled the sword and got that ability. He must have a Copy Ability… I've never seen anything like this…" _Meta Knight thought. "Good... Now I want you to attack me, Chopper!"

"A-Attack you?!"

"Do it!"

Chopper swung his sword at Meta Knight, who managed to block the attack. To his surprise, he noticed he was not doing such a bad job with it. In fact, he never knew he was good with a sword. To him, something was fishy...

"I don't get it... Why do I feel like I know a couple of things about this sword?" Chopper wondered.

"Perhaps the Copy Ability helps you cope with the ability you inhaled. Normally, if you weren't good at something, such as cooking, you could inhale a pan and gain the ability to cook."

"Oh... I never knew that."

Despite this, Meta Knight still managed to hit him with another sword swing. When he was thrown back, Meta Knight charged again, but suddenly Chopper had gained a serious look and managed to quickly disappear from Meta Knight's sights. He was put to a halt, and he looked around his surroundings. Suddenly, he felt two feet hit his head and knock him back.

"Argh!" Meta Knight grunted, slowly standing up. _"What was that?! I didn't even see that coming!"_

Chopper had landed on the ground, looking surprised at Meta Knight rubbing his head. "Are you OK, Meta Knight?"

"What? You don't remember what you just did?"

"Well... I don't know..." Chopper trailed. "But I feel like something happened to me... But I didn't do it on my own, I swear!"

"He doesn't even remember? Hmmmmm... If that's the case, then there must be a problem with that heart..." Meta Knight thought. "He should be controlling that!"

He looked back at Chopper, who looked guilty of what he did. He was most likely right with his prediction.

"All right, Chopper... Perhaps I can teach you how to use some special techniques with the sword." Meta Knight decided. "The Spinning Sword and the Sword Beam are very important moves that a sword wielder can perform. It can help get to an enemy quickly, or attack one from a distance."

* * *

**Meanwhile-**

While that was going on, there happened to be another figure walking through the jungle. He appeared to be a strange, black-looking creature with yellow eyes, a tan wizard hat, a gray robe with yellow stripes, and a wand. His wand could conjure up magic, along with transforming it into anything. After all, he was the Master of Disguise.

"Hmmmm… Lord Maquano told me to search these jungles. But I'm not finding anything…" the wizard named Nazado groaned.

He heard some sword sounds nearby, which had quickly caught his attention. Not wanting to be spotted, he turned into a dark ghost with purple eyes and made himself invisible. When he flew over to the bush and opened it, he saw Meta Knight spin around like a drill, charging in Chopper's direction. This had made the pale green boy get nearly knocked back. But Meta Knight didn't care. He jumped up and let Galaxia store up power.

"Now this is the Sword Beam. It is the most powerful attack for a sword." Meta Knight informed. "Be careful with how you aim it, though. It can destroy many things in your way, and it could harm an innocent person."

"An innocent person... That's not good..."

_"Interesting…" _Nazado thought, watching the scene._ "Are these the two people that escaped Mondrao? …Wait, people that escaped Mondrao? That means that they're not gone! I must take action NOW!" _

Nazado turned into a laser rifle and fired a blast at Meta Knight. He had heard the sound, but he barely had time to take action. In the end, it sent him flying back toward one of the bushes.

"Huh?" Chopper turned around and he saw a floating gun. "Wait… What's that?"

"What?" Nazado gawked, only to realize something. "Oh, crud! I forgot that I'm not invisible here!"

"Invisible? What do you mean?" Chopper asked, looking confused.

"Gah... Oh well... No use hiding now." With that, Nazado had transformed back into himself and stared at Chopper with his yellow eyes.

"Who are you?"

"I am Nazado, Master of Disguise!" Nazado declared. "I have the power to shape-shift into whatever I please! I was tasked to eliminate anyone around here. Since your friend is knocked away, you're next on my list!"

Before Chopper could respond, Nazado waved his wand, which left a trail of purple energy behind. He aimed at Chopper and fired a purple spell in his direction. He gasped and managed to duck like a pancake, causing the shot to slowly disappear.

"That was just luck," Nazado said, aiming at Chopper again. "This time, I won't miss!"

He fired another shot, and this time, it had managed to send Chopper tumbling back. He slowly got up, appearing a bit dazed. Nazado grinned and began to conjure up another spell.

"I can't just stay here... I need to hit him..." Chopper trailed with a puzzled expression. Gripping his sword, he charged at Nazado and swung, but he easily avoided it. The wizard disappeared and attacked from behind with electric magic, electrocuting Chopper. However, he soon suddenly felt something surge within him, and he quickly disappeared from Nazado's sights and easily stomped on him, followed up with swinging at the wizard and making him disappear. He reappeared, only this time, he was holding his arm in pain. Chopper looked at him in surprise and then at his sword. _"Did I do that?"_

"So, you want to play rough, huh? Very well." Nazado's wand transformed into a sword and swung it toward him. Luckily, Chopper held his sword in front of him and blocked it. Seeing that he had a chance to attack, he managed to stomp on his head. Nazado turned his sword into a steel staff and began to block all of Chopper's sword attacks easily. He attacked Chopper, but this time when he got knocked back, his hat was gone, and so was his sword. A yellow star could be seen bouncing around.

"Hmmm? What's that?" Nazado grabbed a hold of the star and inspected it. Soon realizing what it was, he quickly shattered. He then changed his staff back to his wand and walked over to Chopper, who had another bruise on his face from the staff. "Now you're defenseless without that sword, and it gives me the perfect opportunity to finish you! Say your prayers, little boy!"

With that, he fired magic at him. What he didn't expect, however, was Chopper to quickly open his eyes with a serious look and inhale the magic. He spat it back at Nazado, knocking him to the ground.

"Ugh... What...?" Nazado grumbled, slowly sitting up, feeling too weak to fight back. He noticed Chopper's serious look was gone and was changed to one of surprise. "Wait... But you... WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!"

"I don't know..." Chopper trailed. "Something suddenly made me do that..."

"'Something'? Look, I don't know who you are, but there's no way I accept defeat so easily. But at this state, I can't fight for now..." Nazado slowly got up and glared at Chopper. "I'll admit, you're tough, but not good enough! You win this battle for now, I'll see you again…when you least expect it!"

With a cackle, Nazado waved his wand and quickly disappeared. Chopper was about to smile and celebrate, but the sound of other voices caught him off guard.

"I heard something over here!"

"What was that?" Chopper wondered. When he turned to his right, he saw two Tataras come out of the tall grass, leaving him white as a ghost. Their backs appeared hunched, and they were bigger than him.

"Hey, what's this? There's a little kid in this jungle!" one Tatara gaped. "Y'know… When's the last time we blasted someone?"

"Well, we blasted a couple of people a couple of hours ago. He might be a little small, but he might be good for target practice!"

"I was just thinking the same thing!"

The Tartaras smirked and aimed their black and red futuristic laser guns at Chopper, who was left shaking in fear.

"Ummm... Ummmm... Please don't hurt me..." Chopper gulped.

"Too late, kid!"

Before they could fire, Meta Knight had swiftly come in and landed in front of the Tartaras. The minions stopped for a moment to look at the warrior.

"You'll have to get through me first if you want to attack him," Meta Knight warned, drawing his sword.

"Well, look what we have here! Some guy wearing a mask!"

"Let's blast him first! Then we'll get the kid!"

The Tataras grinned and fired at Meta Knight. However, it didn't work, because he used his cape to block the attack. The Tartaras and even Chopper were left in surprise.

"Whoa..." Chopper gaped, watching Meta Knight disappear with his cape. The Tartaras thought he was gone, but they thought wrong when they suddenly got struck by his sword upon appearing.

"Hmmm… This isn't enough to take them down. I need to use one of my stronger attacks…" Meta Knight deflected their shots with Galaxia and flipped his cape, which covered the Tataras in darkness. "Behold!"

"Huh? What's going on?" the Tataras asked, unable to see anything.

Chopper could see a slash from the darkness, and soon the two Tataras were sent flying out of the jungle. Meta Knight turned back to Chopper and put his sword away while walking over to the house.

"I think now is the time for me to go…" Meta Knight trailed, taking out a remote, bringing his ship over to him in about fifteen seconds and getting in. It definitively was getting dark out at this point.

"But Meta Knight… What am I going to do?" Chopper asked. "I can't be here on my own!"

"I am sure you will be able to take care of yourself," Meta Knight assured. "That heart is there for you. It will make sure you are safe, and in the end, it will help you learn how to fight. For now, you should get some sleep."

"But what if I need you?"

"Then take this," Meta Knight grabbed a communicator he was holding and tossed it to Chopper. "That is a communicator. With it, you can contact me. But only call me if it is an emergency."

"Oh... OK..." Chopper trailed, looking down at the communicator.

"Farewell, Chopper. May the stars shine down upon you."

Meta Knight closed the hatch, and he then flew off, leaving Chopper to wave goodbye with a frown. Now he was all alone without anyone to help. The thought of that made him feel uncomfortable. He then looked back at the house and ran over to the door, though he had tripped when he went inside.

"Ow! Man, running fast can be really annoying..."

Chopper sat down on the red sofa and decided to turn the TV on. However, he didn't see anything interesting on, so he turned it off. It was getting dark anyway, so he went upstairs to a hallway with a couple of doors. The first door nearby led to a bedroom, and seeing that it was nice and comfy, he jumped onto the bed and decided to get some sleep.

Hopefully things would work out for him tomorrow.

* * *

**Outside-**

Unfortunately, the night wasn't going to be as peaceful as Chopper thought. Above Clara, Maquano made his appearance, with darkness surrounding him.

"Come now, my minions! We shall take this planet for ourselves, and when we no longer desire it, we shall destroy it!"

Raising his arms, tons of evil creatures had began to fall onto the planet, landing in specific areas of Clara. Some including small, leaf minions, large rocks, and skeleton pirates had flown in, while some minions, such as dark beings with round heads, oval-shaped bodies separate from their heads, disembodied hands, and an antenna with a glowing bulb on the top had flown everywhere. These were called Darklings, and some of them had eyes and bulbs in red, yellow, blue, purple, etc. Even some Tartaras had flown onto some of Clara's continents as well.

"Spread all the darkness on this planet, and leave NO light!" Maquano yelled.

It was at that point something sparkling had made its appearance. It was a yellow star with black eyes, and it was certainly not happy to see him.

"How dare you invade this planet?!" the Power Star scolded. "Leave this planet now, or face the consequences!"

"Ahhh... Just in time." Maquano smirked, reaching for his sword. "I've been waiting for you."

"Waiting for me? Wait... Who are you?!"

"I am Lord Maquano, and it appears your time of protecting this world is over!"

"What do you mean?!"

Before the Power Star could answer, Maquano swung his sword, causing it to shatter into eight pieces. Maquano opened the palm of his hand, and with one strike of his dark magic, the eight pieces began to scatter throughout the planet.

"Heh heh heh... Excellent..." Maquano grinned. "That was much easier than I thought!"

Despite this, the Power Star's spirit was not gone. It had managed to escape before Maquano could spot him, and it started to sense one of the strongest powers on Clara.

* * *

**The next day-**

Surprisingly, Chopper's sleep was not as bad as he thought it would be. However, that was when the Power Star's spirit had spotted the strongest source of power on Clara and found Chopper sleeping.

At first, it was surprised that this little boy was the biggest power source aside from Maquano. But there was not time to be thinking about that. It had very little strength before its spirit would fade away, and now was the perfect opportunity to use it.

_"Listen, you must help me!" _the spirit started._ "Last night, something evil had come here and destroyed me! If all eight pieces of me are not reunited, this planet could possibly fall into darkness by the evil demon knight… Please… I ask that you help. There are eight pieces, once of them being located in this jungle. You have the highest source of power according to what I sensed... I request that you go look for them... Please... I...beg...of...you..."  
_

With the last of its strength, the Power Star's spirit faded away._  
_

After a while, Chopper's eyes opened, and he rubbed his eyes when he sat up.

"Gosh... I don't know why, but I felt this weird voice in my head..." Chopper trailed, blinking his eyes a few times. "And it said something about these pieces needing to be put together..."

He continued to ponder this as he walked downstairs and found a banana in the refrigerator. He threw the peel to the side and let it drop in his mouth. Fruit was always something he liked to eat.

Once he was done with that, he decided to walk outside. However, he was not expecting to see some red-eyed Darklings before him. Two, to be exact.

"Huh? Who are these people?" Chopper wondered.

The Darklings immediately brought their attention to Chopper and started to hurl spells at him. Chopper shrieked and dodged them, leaping in the air and accidentally jumping on one of them, defeating it.

"Oh, crud..." the remaining Darkling gave Chopper a glare before readying a red spell. "Lord Maquano will not be pleased to know that there is someone who can take us out!"

The spell was fired, but Chopper had opened his mouth to inhale it and spit it at the Darkling to defeat it. At this point, he was starting to get a little used to that ability. ...Somewhat.

However, Chopper soon realized what the Darkling said and became wide-eyed, now remembering what he had heard. "Wait... Maquano is here now? And... To help beat him, I need eight pieces of a star..."

Remembering Maquano and that horrible moment, he had clenched his fists. If these Power Star Pieces were meant to help beat Maquano, then there was no way Chopper was going to turn this down.

"I'm going to find Maquano and make him pay for what he did!" Chopper declared, soon becoming softer. "...I hope I can do it."

Wasting no time, Chopper made a bolt away from his house and deeper into the giant jungle.

* * *

**Not as long as the last chapter, but it's all right. Having a chapter around 4,000 or 5,000 words is fine for a story like this. It's not going to be long like my Paper Chopper stories. I can tell you that.**

**And for those questioning why Meta Knight thought he never saw someone copy an ability like this, I'd say this is before he met Kirby, so there's your explanation there. :P**


	3. Clara's Upper Jungle

Chapter 3: Clara's Upper Jungle

Despite running through the jungle, Chopper was still feeling uneasy over his speed. He was going at a much faster rate, and these speeds were nothing he had ever felt. Even his jump was better than usual, and he could now gain abilities upon eating something? He sure found it strange, but if this would stop Maquano, then he was going to take it.

Before Chopper could move any further, he had come to a halt when he saw a glowing yellow ? block near him. Curious, he jumped to try to touch it. However, his fist ended up hitting it from underneath instead. Chopper would've winced, but surprisingly, it did not hurt his hand.

But that was not what caught his attention. He looked over at the ground and spotted an orange flower with eyes and a green stem.

"What is this?" Chopper wondered, approaching it. When he picked up the flower, his gloves turned to a red color, and they were surrounded in flames. "Eep! Fire!"

He began to shake his arm around, hoping to get rid of the fire. This did not end up working, no matter how hard he shook. Eventually he stopped when he realized that this fire was not hurting him.

"Hey... It's not hurting me..." Chopper trailed. "Then what does it do?"

Before he could figure it out, he saw a Darkling fire a red spell in his direction. He tried to avoid it, but a fireball had suddenly shot from his hand and destroyed the spell, also hitting the Darkling as well.

"Wait... I shoot fire now?" Chopper gawked, looking at his hand, and back at the smoking Darkling. It hissed and went after him, but Chopper had done what he did and forced his hand open and forward, making him shoot another fireball and destroy it.

With that Darkling out of the way, he decided to progress onward.

At this point, Chopper was going through the jungle with ease. He jumped over some pits that had spikes at the bottom, and he even crossed over a gap with a vine. It sure did show that he was starting to get used to things around here, and that was a good thing. Though, not all of those jumps were done on his own...

When he a tree with eyes, a jagged nose, and an angry look was in his way, he had come to a halt. It was glaring angrily at him while guarding the way up ahead. Unlike other trees, its roots were above the ground, allowing it to move around.

"What's this tree?" Chopper, gawked, approaching the three and looking up at it, but an apple fell off from one of its branches and landed on his head, leaving him dizzy. The tree, known as the Angry Tree, made it rain apples. When Chopper shook off the daze, he jumped out of the way to avoid them, but two of them had ended up hitting him.

"Ha ha ha! How do you feel?!" the Angry Tree cackled.

"Ungh... Well... Uhhh... Take this!" Chopper shot a fireball at the Angry Tree, leaving it scorched. As a result, it screamed loudly in pain.

"ARRRGH! NOW YOU'VE DONE IT! Come here, my saplings! Give your leader some help!" the Angry Tree roared. Some smaller trees came out of the bushes and were about to attack, making Chopper's eyes widen. They were about to charge, but Chopper suddenly felt a surge within him that made him fire multiple fireballs at them, defeating the tree.

And just like before, Chopper was left in surprise.

Angered, the Angry Tree made more apples drop, and one hit Chopper again, which brought his attention back to the tree. He threw three fireballs at it. It was at this point that the Angry Tree had finally stopped its assault and became in a dazed state. Chopper couldn't help but feel bad for the trees.

But, there wasn't much he could do at this point, so he moved on through the jungle, going down a few hills in the way. Funny enough, he had run into a loop and ended up going through it, and then he had crossed over a calm river. He decided to stop here and take a break in order to look at the water.

Unfortunately, it hadn't lasted very long when a Darkling hurled a spell at him, suddenly turning his gloves back to a white color. Chopper noticed this and tried attacking from a far range, but he realized that fireballs would not fire out from his hand.

"Uh oh... This isn't good." Chopper gulped.

While the Darkling cackled, Chopper decided to jump on its head in order to defeat it instead. With it out of the way, Chopper progressed until he found some blocks with white stars depicted in them blocking the way up ahead. Getting a closer look, he could see a bridge up ahead that was more like a corkscrew compared to the previous bridge. He looked up and saw a purple, floating enemy with a big eye and a ghost-like tail. It had the ability to shoot a small, whip-like beam from its hands, and also a charged one from its eyes.

The enemy, known as a Beamo, had flown down to Chopper and fired a beam, knocking him back. Chopper was unsure what to do at first, but suddenly he felt his mouth suddenly open and inhale the Beamo. Upon swallowing it, his skin became a yellow color, and his feet turned orange. He seemed to have a hat that was like two hats. One part of the hat was red, and the other was yellow orange with white polka dots. Also, he was holding a wand that had a golden stick, and the crystal-like ball being light blue.

"Huh? What the heck is this?" Chopper swung the wand and an orange, whip-like beam fired from it, destroying the blocks. There were a couple of platforms hidden in them. Some vines happened to be on the trees, which had some apples hidden. Chopper gladly climbed them and ate the apples, which helped recover dome damage he took. He then progressed through the trees, jumping on a few platforms in the way.

But he wasn't clear from the enemies. Now there were small, leaf-like creatures with light green arms and legs, along with a pointy tip of their head called Leafions. They had purple eyes, and they also carried clovers that resembled weapons. Some had been thrown at him from the trees, but Chopper fired a beam that knocked them out of the trees.

When the enemies were out of the way, Chopper had come across another vine hanging over a pond. He leaped in the air and grabbed a hold of it, using it to swing to the other side with ease. At that point, he had found a light at the end of the jungle, and to his surprise, he had come across a grassy field.

"Whoa… This is big." Chopper gaped, coming to a halt as he looked at his surrounding. There was a large amount of short grass and some hills, and he could even see the blue sky. There were a few clouds around here and there, but he also spotted an upper area high up in the jungle. Off in the distance, he had spotted an enormous tree, known as the Elder Tree. "Wow… I like this place. It looks so cool!"

Chopper looked around in the open fields, seeing nothing around except a Leafion's clover coming toward him. This had managed to send him tumbling back in the process, while the Leafion cackled and approached Chopper, letting its eyes flash and spin. A ray had emitted from its eyes in an attempt to put him under its control.

...But, nothing happened. As a result, Chopper had managed to defeat with it with ease and send it flying into the lake.

Afterward, Chopper walked over to the lake and saw some bubbles coming up. He got a closer look, but soon enough, a blue spell had fired up and had nearly hit him. Emerging from the water was a blue-eyed Darkling.

"Hey, people! Looks like we got ourselves a new playmate!" the Darklings shouted as they fired a blue spell at Chopper, getting rid of his Beam ability and making him fall into the lake.

Unfortunately, Chopper was not exactly the best swimmer. Well, he was a decent swimmer, but not as good as many others. Thankfully, he did not have to worry about holding his breath due to platforming games allowing infinite air underwater, and that was something he was fine with.

But now wasn't the time for these explanations. Chopper's antennas twitched, sensing danger nearby.

Two Leafions had been in the water as well, carrying what appeared to be ink guns. Chopper swam up to one of them to punch them, but he ended up getting inked.

"Ack!" Chopper quickly shook himself, getting the ink off of him. Punching wasn't going to do much, leaving him unsure of what to do. That was, until he ended up squirting a water projectile resembling a bubble at one of the Leafions, knocking it back. Seeing nothing else around, Chopper had quickly got out of the water and shook himself. "Ugh... I didn't like it down there..."

Since the coast was clear, he sat down by the lake, looking up at the sun. It had been quite a while since he had seen the sun. What was strange was that it was yellow. Mondrao's sun was more bluish in color.

"Hi there!"

Turning around, Chopper saw a little cloud with a shade of pink and a face. Curious, Chopper had approached her.

"Why, hello there! My name's Cloudia! How are you?"

Chopper was unsure of how to react.

"Aw, c'mon! Tell me how you are!"

"Ummm... I'm OK..." Chopper trailed. "But I need to find some weird piece called a Power Star Piece or something..."

"OK, if you say so. Well, you might want to be careful around here..." Cloudia warned. "Some dark baddies had arrived here recently, and they're starting to cause a lot of trouble."

"Oh, I think I ran into a couple."

The little cloud girl saw a Darkling sneak behind Chopper, but he ended up moving his arms back to stretch. This had unintentionally hit the Darkling and defeated it. When he turned around, his eyes widened at the Darkling.

"Whoa… Did I just do that? I didn't even see that!" Chopper gasped.

Before Cloudia could answer, there was a pink explosion high up in the sky.

"Hey… What's that?"

"That? Oh… I don't think you know about this. Two alien species have always been fighting in space, and usually it's around this galaxy. I know, it sounds annoying, but no one knows why they're fighting. Maybe because of power or perhaps they just don't like each other."

"Aliens? What are those?"

"They're people who are not from this world," Cloudia answered, making Chopper look at himself for a moment. "As for those aliens... Their names are **Mewtwo **and** Deoxys**. Mewtwo was supposedly created by scientists, and Deoxys is an alien who lives in space."

"They sound pretty dangerous," Chopper frowned. Cloudia dropped a telescope for Chopper to use. He had picked it up and looked through it at the bigger side, but then Cloudia changed it to the correct position for him to see.

* * *

**Space-**

Up in space, the two aliens had continued their battle, throwing everything they had against each other. However, despite their actions, neither of their attacks were very effective toward one another. After all, both of them were using mostly Psychic attacks on one another.

After both threw in a physical attack, both were thrown back by the force of their own hits, and now both were panting.

The one to the left looked like a creature with a humanoid posture, but with many feline features. The alien's body was grayish-purple with a purple underside and a long, purple tail. It also had three circular digits on each appendage, purple eyes, and two short ears. This alien was named Mewtwo.

The other alien had skinny legs that came to a point. The upper-legs had a single blue stripe that went down to the knees. It had orange skin that covered it except for its abdomen. Its arms were usually in the form of two pairs of cord-like tentacles that were red and blue, sometimes coiled in a double helix. The alien could also reform its tentacles into bluish-green humanoid arms with five-fingered hands, with a red "Y" shape running down the arms' entire length, and it also had two trapezoid-shaped "ears" and a short tail. This one was Deoxys.

They were both very powerful, and they were even in both power and speed.

"Fighting me was a foolish thing for you to do, Deoxys," Mewtwo said through his psychic powers. "Even if you're an alien from outer space, my psychic abilities surpass yours!"

Mewtwo's eyes began to glow a blue color, which made Deoxys surrounded by a blue aura. The alien Pokemon got knocked far away by the psychic attack, but then it came back, unleashing a Night Shade at Mewtwo. It countered it with a Shadow Ball, causing an explosion that could be seen on the planet.

"Hmph… I see… So you've got a little fight in you." Mewtwo panted as it readied another shadow ball. Once it was ready, Mewtwo threw the shadow ball at Deoxys, which sent the alien flying back.

But it had a trick up its sleeve too, and it released a Dark Pulse upon Mewtwo. After they got hit by each other's attacks, Mewtwo unleashing a thunderbolt and Deoxys firing a Hyper Beam. They both got hit, which left them even more exhausted. Deoxys studied Mewtwo's moves, and it saw it was going to use Psychic against it again. This time, instead of a Hyper Beam, Deoxys charged up a ball of energy and tossed it at Mewtwo. Like before, they were both injured by each others' attacks.

They made a move again, and this time, they both collided and began to attack by tackling each other. Soon enough, they were grabbing each other's hands as their heads were closer. Their eyes began to glow blue, ready to pull off another Psychic.

There was a big explosion, and both aliens were sent flying down to the planet. Chopper witnessed this, but he noticed the two had crashed elsewhere on the planet.

* * *

**Jungle-**

"Whoa…" Chopper gawked, turning back to Cloudia. "That was cool! ...But I have to get going.

"Get going? But why?" Cloudia asked.

"I was told a Power Star Piece is in this jungle. …Maybe you know where it is?"

"Mmmmmmmm… I don't know about a Power Star Piece... But I think I can help you get an idea where to go! It's a little high up, but it's beautiful. Just hop on and I'll take you there!"

"OK," Chopper jumped on her, and he began to ascend from the ground. When he looked up at the clouds, he spotted a rainbow. "Hey... What's that thing in the sky?"

"That's a rainbow. It's usually located around the sky, where I live." Cloudia smiled, looking up at the clouds. "Maybe one day you'll be able to travel up on the clouds and see what it's like."

"That sounds exciting," Chopper smiled as he saw some green, round platforms hanging from some skinny trees and also a flat ground on the top of the tree. They were pretty big areas, and it seemed like the vines were the only way to get through the place. They were pretty big too, even having a green road on them.

"This is as far as I can take you," Cloudia informed, making a stop. "You can go to the giant tree, the Elder Tree. It's the oldest tree on the planet. You also might want to watch out for those leaf baddies. They're dangerous."

Chopper jumped off Cloudia with a nod, and he waved goodbye to her as she flew back into the sky. Right now he was on a big vine trail with Leafions standing before him, holding their clover-like weapons and sticks. From the look on their eyes, they were not too happy to see him.

One Leafion had charged at him, but Chopper quickly jumped aside and managed to kick it and knock the others away. Afterward, he found another yellow ? block nearby, so he jumped under it like before to find a piece of sliced cake. Eating it, Chopper had managed to heal off some more damage he took. He was about to continue onward, but he spotted a bush with a Fire Flower in it. Taking it, his gloves turned red again.

"This should help me," Chopper smiled, turning to the Leafions when they saw the fire surroundings his hands. They instantly stepped away and began to make a run for it toward the corkscrew. However, Chopper was much faster than them, which helped him catch up to them. Unfortunately, his attack missed, but instead, the Leafions were spinning like crazy and eventually fell off the vine path. With them out of the way, Chopper ran through the corkscrew to find a vine hanging from a branch. This would lead to a big tree ahead.

When Chopper finally reached the end of the corkscrew, he was launched over to the big tree, where the top had a couple of hills, and a branch that was leading a ledge going to another vine pathway. However, since he never experienced a corkscrew like that, he was left dazed.

"Ugh... That didn't feel so good..." Chopper moaned.

"Hold it right there!"

A Leafion happened to be blocking his way ahead, and it was in control of a water cannon, which could shoot balls of water (obviously). The cannon was a blue color with light blue stripes and a symbol of a rain drop on it. The Leafion looked down at Chopper from the hill, laughing.

"Huh? Who are you?" Chopper asked.

"My name is General Leafguy!" the general introduced. "As you can see, I'm a leaf…that's a guy."

"Oh... OK..."

"Look, I don't know who the heck you are, but you're in **King Trinado's** territory! I suggest you leave before I blast you!"

"Trinado? Who is he?" Chopper wondered.

"Oh, he's the leader of us Leafions in his castle, and he's got this shiny yellow piece of a staAAAAAAAAHH-" Leafguy paused. "Errr... I just realized that I had forgotten something!"

Chopper looked at him in confusion for a moment. But it didn't take long enough for the gears in his head to start moving, along with a light bulb appearing over his head.

"Hey, wait a minute! He has that star thingy I need!" Chopper realized.

"Crud... Well, you ain't getting past me!" Leafguy declared, firing its cannon at Chopper. He yelped and jumped out of the way, but he eventually chucked a fireball. Unfortunately, this did not work when a water ball extinguished his fireball and splashed on him, turning his gloves back to normal. "Ha! Take that, you little kid!"

"Oh, no... Not my ability again!"

"Listen, kid! I got some advice for you: stay out, and you'll be safe. That Power Star Piece is very important to keep in the castle! If we don't keep it safe, who knows who might take it?"

"But I need that thing to-"

Soon enough, Chopper found himself getting pelted with more water balls. It wasn't until Chopper got annoyed that he ended up inhaling one of them and spitting it at the cannon, causing some serious damage to it.

"You're such a jerk for that!" Chopper frowned. "I was saying that I need that thing to stop Maquano!"

"Oh…! Crud!" Leafguy gulped, ignoring Chopper and seeing if there were any problems with the cannon. This allowed Chopper to run over to him and stomp on his head for some serious damage. However, Leafguy wasn't going to give up so easily. "Argh! See how you like this!"

Leafguy took out a boomerang that was shaped like a moon crescent and threw it at Chopper. The cutter got his attention, but he remembered that he inhaled a sword, so he opened his mouth to inhale this. Just like the sword, it didn't seem to harm him from the inside. He swallowed the cutter and got a yellow cap with eyes and wings that resembled a duck and a yellow blade that was on his head that could used to cut things like trees and even grass.

"This is a new one… I guess I could try it out..." Chopper took the blade off his cap and threw it at Leafguy, who had taken out its clover-like weapon. However, it got sliced in half, rendering in useless.

"Uh oh… I think I'm a goner." Leafguy gulped as it was about to run, but Chopper had managed to stop the Leafion by jumping on its head and leaving it in a dazed state. This gave him the opportunity to finally get some questions from him.

"Can you tell me where I can find this Trinado guy's castle?" Chopper asked. "I really need to go there..."

"His Majesty's Castle? You wouldn't last a second in there. It's crawling with us Leafions! No… I wouldn't tell you. I cannot let him lose that Power Star Piece… That thing can't be restored, and I'm never going to let it out!"

"It's either you tell me, or... Well, I don't know." Chopper said, unsure, of how to convince him. He was never really that good with talking anyway. "My mommy told me never to hurt someone... Though, the only one I really want to hurt is Maquano for what he did to me!"

"Look, I don't care about what happened to you. I ain't telling you!"

"Then... Maybe I can tell your guys that I beat you?"

"...Dang it. You got me there. Fine, I'll tell you where his castle is. Up ahead you'll find a tree called the Elder Tree. It is the largest and oldest tree in the world. You can't miss it. The pathway will take you straight there. At the top of the tree is a mushroom that can take you to the castle."

"How do I get up to the tree?"

"Like I'd tell you that!"

"Oh... Well, I'm going." Chopper decided, walking on ahead.

"Wait a moment!" Leafguy shouted, putting Chopper to a halt. "I want you to do me a favor... I've been meaning to do this a long time ago, but I never got the chance. Tell Steve and the others...that their cooking...stinks. And also mention that they're...fired..."

Leafguy slowly closed his eyes and was remained motionlessly. Chopper poked at him with his foot to see if it was moving, but all he heard was snoring. Shrugging, he decided to carry on ahead.

Little did he know that over by another tree, a figure was watching him from the distance with his pink eyes, while his cape was blowing to the side from the wind.

"So... This is the one..." the figure trailed. "He shows a lot of potential with that power... But even then, that on its own will not be enough to stop Maquano."

Once Chopper had run further toward the tree, the figure had leaped off the tree and into the jungle below.

* * *

**Firing a group of Leafions over bad cooking... Yeah.  
**

**This might not be the best chapter, and it's definitely shorter than the other two. But at least it has plenty of action. We're probably going to go into the castle next chapter anyway. Yeah, expect the first area to be about four parts (counting the previous chapter, of course).  
**

**And we also have this mysterious figure... I won't answer questions about that, but perhaps we'll find out who he is...**

**As how Chopper would play kind of like... Think of it as a mixture of Mario, Sonic, and Kirby, though I'd say combat is more Kirby-like.**


	4. Castle Infiltration

Chapter 4: Castle Infiltration

As Chopper made his travel toward the Elder Tree, he had to wonder why Leafguy had requested him to make that kind of statement to the others that were on its side. As he continued to think, he was put to a stop when he saw two trees in the way in the shape of an X and having vines underneath it, blocking the way ahead.

He walked over to the cross branch, took the cutter blade off his helmet, and with all his might, he threw it at the vines. It cut through it in only three seconds. Chopper noticed the blade coming back his way, but suddenly he felt something within him that made him catch it. He looked at his hand for a moment in surprise, realizing that he had managed to catch it.

"Wait... I...caught it?" Chopper gawked. Regardless, he put the blade back on his cap and proceeded on toward the Elder Tree.

A couple of Leafions were talking by the entrance of the tree, but then they were knocked off the vine path when they noticed a cutter boomerang coming their way. Chopper caught it and got to the entrance. The door was a darker color on the tree bark than the tree bark itself.

Chopper pushed the door open and entered the tree. He saw a small little bar inside and a stairway circling the walls. The Leafions were drinking tree sap, and they didn't appear to notice his arrival.

"Huh? What is this?" Chopper wondered, tilting his head. The Leafions stopped drinking and looked at Chopper.

"Hey! That's the kid who's been attacking us!" one Leafion realized. "Get him!"

The Leafions got their leaf spears and threw them at Chopper. Unfortunately, he wasn't saved by this, and his Cutter ability was knocked away and became a yellow star. Unfortunately, before he could inhale it, a leaf spear hit it and shattered it.

"No!" Chopper cried, getting hit by a couple of leaf spears, knocking him back. All he could do was try something with the tree sap drinks, so he quickly jumped up and landed by the bartender. "Can I have that stuff?"

"Ummmm... OK." the Leafion shrugged and filled up a glass of tree sap and gave it to Chopper. He grabbed the glass and took a drink of it. Soon enough, his eyes widened, and he spat it at the Leafions, leaving them all sticky. Not only that, but they couldn't even move from where they were standing. They all tried, but it was no use.

"Bleaugh! That stuff is kind of gross!" Chopper exclaimed, sticking his tongue out in disgust. He looked over at the Leafions and noticed their inability to move. "Oh... Ha! They can't move!"

"Wait, you weren't planning on doing that in the first place?" the bartender gawked.

"Ummmm... No, not really. I just wanted to taste that stuff..." Chopper trailed, turning to the Leafion. "Do you know where Trinado's Castle?"

"Wait, what? What the heck do you need there?!"

"I need to get the Power Star Piece there. Can you please tell me?"

"All right…" the Leafion bartender sighed. "If you want to reach His Majesty's castle, you must go up to the top of the tree. You'll find a mushroom that'll take you up to the castle. Got that?"

"OK... Well, thanks." Chopper said.

"Good. But, while you're there, if you see Steve, tell me he owes me 1 Clarin for that drink. I mean, seriously! He thinks he can get away by not paying ONE Clarin? That greedy jerk…"

"Ummmm... OK..."

Chopper quickly took off around the staircase, leaving the bartender to sigh and get back to work. It couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

"Heh... I never even mentioned those spiders webs and spiders around here!"

* * *

**?-**

"_**BRRAGGH!**_ That stupid kid! Who does he think he is?!"

A dark-purple ghost with a gray hat, a roundish body, catlike ears, an alligator-like tail, a spike-covered back, and red eyes threw the TV toward the wall in an aqua blue room with a lime-green sofa and a table. Unlike his comrades, he was the only one that had sported arms and legs.

Another dark-purple ghost with a brown hat was in the room, but unlike the other, he had a pair of disembodied hands floating in front of him and a trio of spike-like protrusions on both sides of his face. His eyes were triangular and also had several sharp, purple teeth.

The last ghost was just a black ball of ghostly matter with a black hat that was surrounded by a purple glow of smog. His white eyes were big and wide and his mouth had a pair of fangs in it.

"Hey, I'm Gengly Gengar. And this is Haunting Haunter and Ghastly Gastly." Gengly introduced, facing the fourth wall. "We're the Ghostly Trio. We're bad guys, in case you wanted to know…"

"Yeah! Bad guys!" Haunting added.

"However, there's a problem we got," Gengly began as he shifted the scene to them standing on grass, despite there being a "Keep Off the Grass" sign. "Y'see… No matter what unthinkable thing we do that's evil, it doesn't get anyone's attention! I mean we're standing here, right on the grass! And you see everyone else?"

While they were standing on the grass, the Leafions around them were minding their own business.

"What? You don't believe us? Well, you better listen to what some of them have to say to us! They usually go, 'You stink!' or, 'You call yourselves bad guys? My grandmother knows how to be a better villain than you! And she's 94!' BLAH! The only one that thinks we're cool is some guy from the internet!"

Gengly shifted the background back into their room and was on the computer, talking to someone on a website filled with many sorts of geeks. On the computer screen was a picture of a nerdy-looking Leafion.

"You guys look so cool, almost like from an anime!" the nerdy Leafion typed up. However, Gengly and the gang weren't pleased to see that a geeky Leafion thought that they were cool unlike the others.

"_GRAAGHH!_" Gengly shouted, throwing the computer at the wall. "We're NEVER going to become awesome villains! Sure, we got the hats, but we don't have the guts to even get a hero to beat the snot out of us!"

"Gee, Boss… What are we supposed to do now?" Haunting asked.

"Everything we do has been a complete failure," Ghastly said.

"Well, lemme think for a moment. I gotta think of the crime of the century! Er… Yeah, that's what I'm doing!" Gengly pondered for the moment – for twenty minutes, exactly. Ghastly and Haunting even fell asleep. When he had finally got an idea, his voice was loud enough to wake the two. "_**Ah-HA!**_ I've got it! I know the PERFECT plan! Geng Geng Geng Geng!"

"Yeah! Now we'll be evil!" Haunting cheered.

"Shut up, you!"

* * *

**Elder Tree-**

Chopper continued up the spiral staircase with his speed. While he didn't spot anything, he ended up braking as soon as he saw that the stairway was broken off. Realizing that he couldn't move on, he sighed.

"Great… Now how am I supposed to go up there?" Chopper wondered while he scratched his head. There was no way he could make that jump. Plus, why would he want to deal with the Leafions down there? Then he noticed the spider web. "Hey... Can I get on that?"

Grabbing a hold on the web, he realized that he could, so he began to make his way up to the next spiral pathway. Unfortunately, climbing wasn't necessarily his greatest talent. Heck, he wasn't so great at many things when he didn't have the Sacred Heart in him, and he was sure that not even that thing will help him with stuff like that.

As he continued to climb, he spotted a big, dark widow spider, and when it noticed Chopper, it smirked and rubbed its hands evilly.

"Well, well, well! Looks like my meal arrived just in time!" the spider declared, putting a napkin around itself and grabbed a knife and fork.

Chopper wasn't paying much attention, but he suddenly saw a spider web cover his eyes, leaving him blind. The dark widow was drooling as it crawled over to Chopper, ready to have its dinner.

…But then…

"I can't see a thing around here!" Chopper cried as he moved his arm around, which smacked the spider and almost knocked it to the ground. He got the spider web off his eyes and saw the spider coming back toward him.

"You're not getting away from me, my meal!" the spider hissed.

Luckily, Chopper kicked the spider's face, which made it fall to the ground. This allowed him to climb up the web and to the other spiral staircase, which was at the upper part of the tree. With that, he sped his way up the tree until he found another little door that was darker than the tree bark. Opening it, it led him outside, but not at the top of the Elder Tree.

Though he was disappointed that he wasn't at the top, Chopper, however, did notice a little ramp going up the tree and a big vine pathway that circled around it. He also spotted two Darklings around the vine course.

"So, this is meant to be some kind of racing course, am I right?" a Darkling asked its fellow comrade, having finishing the racing course.

"Yup! Apparently King Trinado told Lord Maquano about building a little race course for those Leafions." the second Darkling noted. "I don't know why they want it, but I guess it's not a bad idea to make it. Right?"

"I guess so..."

Chopper eyed the raceway in curiosity, but then one of the Darklings had spotted him.

"Hey, it's that kid!"

"Uh oh... I'm in trouble." Chopper gulped.

They charged at him, but Chopper had taken action and jumped on them, which caused them to get destroyed with ease. With them out of the picture, Chopper began to run around the course, believing that it would help him get higher up the tree. After seven laps through the course, he ran toward the ramp on the tree, and upon leaping off, he was now running up the Elder Tree. It felt strange, but it was also interesting to him.

"I hope I don't fall down..." Chopper gulped, nearly reaching the top of the tree. He eventually reached the top, but he found himself going too high up, leaving him in midair. Frowning, he eventually plummeted, but suddenly he was launched off the tree by a bouncy mushroom and over to a gray castle up ahead. It looked like it had about three floors.

Unfortunately, his landing was not exactly great. He had landed headfirst near the castle, leaving him stuck. It took him a while, but he managed to push his head out of the ground and sit on the ground in a dazed state.

It was at that point that the Ghostly Trio had emerged from the ground.

"Hey! You!" Gengly called out.

Chopper had quickly gotten out of his dazed state and pointed at himself. "Me?"

"Yeah, I'm talking to you! And before you ask us who we are, we'll just tell ya! We're the Ghostly Trio! Y'know, the bad guys?"

"Ghostly Trio? Bad guys?"

"Yeah! Bad guys! Ya wanna see?"

"Ummm..."

"All right, look at that castle for a minute!" Gengly pointed at the castle and Chopper looked. The Ghostly Trio floated over to the castle wall and pulled out graffiti. They began to spray it on the wall. After finishing, they walked over to Chopper. "Well?"

"What was that?" Chopper asked.

"Heh heh heh! Ya see… It's illegal to spray things on walls with graffiti." Gengly informed. "And what did we do? We broke the law! Now you're gonna have to beat us up and throw us into jail!"

"What are laws? And what's jail?"

The Ghostly Trio had instantly fallen over.

"Well, I don't think it's anything big. I shouldn't be staying here. I need to get in that castle and get the first Power Star Piece." Chopper said before he rushed past them and ran to the door, entering through the door. The Ghostly Trio was left sweat dropping.

"Man, WHAT can we do to make ourselves cool villains? Gah... This is annoying!" Gengly grumbled.

the Ghostly Trio sank into the shadows, making their exit from the jungle.

* * *

**Inside-**

Chopper found the inside of the castle to be a little dull. The main area of the castle had a gray ground made of brick with only a small red rug. He saw a couple of statues of the leaf with a crown and what appeared to be holding two swords by the walls with some Leafions worshipping him. Obviously that was Trinado, the leaf king. There wasn't much around except for a couple of Darklings roaming around the room.

Seeing nothing else to do, Chopper began his way through the first room of the castle. There weren't any obstacles, but he had to deal with the Darklings, so one jump took care of them.

"I guess that's all to this room," Chopper said before rushed to the black door and opened it to another room. This time, however, he saw some lava pits with some fireballs jumping out of the lava. Fire wheels also spun around on the floor and ceiling. "Oh... I don't like this room..."

Taking a deep breath, Chopper jumped over the lava and avoided the fire wheel that was coming toward him. That wasn't the only thing either. Some Darklings in the room tried to fire spells at him. While in midair, he inhaled one of the red spells and spat it back at them to destroy them. He then proceeded into the next room, which wasn't filled with lava, but it had a red rug, so it looked much nicer. The only thing he noticed were more of those Trinado statues.

He also heard some music coming from one of the doors. After knocking out some Leafions, he decided to take a look through the door. He noticed a tree-like species with leaves as its hair getting hypnotized by a Leafion wearing a tiki mask.

"Huh?" the Leafion turned around and saw Chopper in the room. "What's this? A lost boy in this castle? How is this even possible? No matter... It's still a perfect opportunity to use my hypnosis!"

Grinning under its mask, the Leafion walked over to Chopper and began to use its hypnosis on him.

…Unfortunately, like before, the hypnosis wasn't doing anything.

"What are you doing?" Chopper wondered.

"Huh?" the Leafion stopped and looked confused. "My hypnosis isn't even working? But that can't be possible! It always works!"

"Hey, I wonder... Are you Steve?"

"...Yes, that is me. Why?"

"I think someone said that you weren't good at making food... And I think that leaf guy wanted to fire you."

"What? Leafguy is firing me over my bad cooking?!"

"And I think some guy in that tree said he needed a Clar...something."

"Crud... This ain't good." Steve gulped. "Thanks a lot for that! Since you happened to snitch on me, I'm taking you out!"

Steve charged at Chopper, taking its clover out. However, Chopper had managed to dodge its attack and watch it crash through the window, causing it to plummet down into the jungle below. The tree person, known as a Treedo, had thanked Chopper before it ran out of the castle. Now that it was just him, he checked to see if there was anything else in the room. All he found was a yellow ? block that contained a Fire Flower.

"Hey, another one of those!" Chopper grabbed it and his gloves changed to a red color. "This should help me! I can give those Leafions and Darklings something now!"

Chopper left the room and threw some fireballs at the Leafions that were coming toward him, defeating them in an instant. He then proceeded into the next room, which was a room with an elevator. A Leafion was guarding it, but one single stomp from Chopper's foot defeated it.

He went in the elevator and took a look at the buttons. "Hmmmm… There's only two buttons here. Maybe I should press the number '2'?"

Chopper hit the number to the second floor, and soon enough the elevator door closed. While the elevator started to move up he found a couple of magazines on a stool. Curious, he grabbed one of them, and it read, "Trinado's Fancy Castle" on it.

"What is this saying?" Chopper tried to read some of the words, but being only four, he couldn't exactly read all of it. All he could do was look at the pictures. It had Trinado and also Maquano on it. The one with Maquano made him glare at it, remembering what he had done to Mondrao. It also reminded him of avenging his parents as well.

After a moment, the elevator opened up, and Chopper found a door up ahead that led into a hallway filled with tiki Leafions. A couple of vines were on the walls, with some palm trees as well. It was a long hallway, and charging through wouldn't be a bad idea. ...If that was what he was thinking at the moment.

Another thing he noticed was the loudspeaker with an unfamiliar voice.

_"Attention, Leafions. This is your king speaking! King Trinado, that is! It has brought to my attention that there's an intruder…well, invading our castle. I don't know what or who it is, but stay on guard! In the meantime, I would like to announce that we are now selling Treedo stems! Just so you know, no Treedos were harmed in the making of it. ...Well, unless you consider yanking off the trees on their heads, then I suppose they were harmed - but only after the procedure. Come and get them! They're only twenty-four Clarins!"  
_

Chopper heard a Treedo moaning through the loudspeaker, and then he heard someone getting knocked out and thrown off somewhere.

_"Err… That was nothing! Carry on!"_

Chopper brought his attention back toward the door at the end of the hallway. He pointed at the door and he prepared himself to charge, hoping he could charge through. Luckily, none of the Leafions dared to look at him.

"Here we… _**GO!**_" Chopper blasted through all the Leafions like a fireball, knocking all of them back toward the tree branches. Because he had the Fire Flower ability on too, the Leafions were also scorched.

Chopper braked in the next room he entered. It was a round room with lava around the platform. A Leafion could be seen across from the arena-like room. It gasped and ran into the room ahead.

"Hey, wait!" Chopper cried, but it was too late. "Weird... Was it scared of me?"

The door opened again, but this time a muscular Leafion walked in the room with a strong vine body and black eyes. It flexed its muscles to show off too.

"So, I heard you like to beat us Leafions up, huh?" the Leafion asked as he flexed his muscles.

"H-Huh?" Chopper gawked. "N-No, I never-"

"Well guess what? I'm going to make you feel what it's like to get beat up by one of us!"

"But I didn't hur-"

"IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!"

The Leafion let out a battle cry and leaped in the air in an attempt to crush him. Chopper gasped and got out of the way with ease, letting the Leafion hit the ground, appearing stunned. Seeing this as a perfect opportunity to attack, Chopper jumped on the Leafion, and once he bounced off, he shot a fireball at the muscular Leafion as well.

"Oh, geez! My biscuit's are burnin'!"

"Biscuits? I love biscuits!" Chopper smiled, watching the Leafion bounce all around the room.

"I better get my act together! Where's a bucket of water when I need one?" the Leafion asked. Luckily, for it, the sprinklers turned on and the flames disappeared. This also made Chopper's fireballs useless.

Chopper tried to make a move, but the Leafion grabbed him and threw him across the platform. As a result, his Fire Flower ability had been knocked away. As he got up, he saw the Leafion throw a sharp leaf blade like a boomerang. It reminded him of the cutter blade Leafguy had, so he opened his mouth to inhale it, gaining the Cutter ability.

"Let's hope this helps!" Chopper declared, tossing the blade on his helmet at the Leafion, which cut off its leafy arm.

"Hey! You're not playin' fair!"

Chopper ignored the Leafion and threw the blade again, cutting off its left arm this time. Now armless, Chopper had grabbed the blade and proceeded to charge at the enemy. He was about to leap in the air, but he felt something keep him moving. He soon found himself swinging his cutter blade at the Leafion, and finishing off the combo by leaping in the air and swinging the blade downward, which created a wave in the shape of a slash attack, defeating the Leagion once and for putting the blade back on his helmet, he ran to the door ahead and entered a prison room filled with, of course, prison cells. There were many more tree people from before, and they were trapped inside. Some did not even have their little trees on their head either. Rather than bars, the prisons had red force fields instead.

"…Is that another of Trinado's minions?" one of the Treedos asked. The old Treedo with the white beard and wooden staff looked at Chopper, who had ended up jumping on the Leafion that ran into this room before it could attack.

"No, he doesn't appear to be one of them. Perhaps he could help us..."

With the Leafions out of the way, he spotted the Treedos in their cells. "Hey... What are you people doing in there? It looks really small... Maybe I should give you more room."

He pulled the switch down nearby, freeing the Treedos inside, who began to thank him as they ran out.

"Thank you!"

"I'm free!"

"I don't need to be stuck in that cell anymore!"

"You have our thanks!"

The eldest one walked over to Chopper, using his staff as a cane. "We thank you for freeing us, young one. My name is Trelder. I'm the Treedo Elder of our people."

"Oh, well hi..." Chopper trailed with a small wave. "Why were you stuck in that small space?"

"We were captured by King Trinado's minions so he could try to make us work in his castle and take the trees from our heads to sell. He is a master at hypnosis, compared to some of his Leafions. No one can withstand it."

"What's hypnosis?"

"It's when they try to control you. However, their hypnosis only seems to work against those from this world." Trelder recalled. "If you made it this far, then chances are you aren't from around here... Perhaps you might have a chance against Trinado..."

"Oh! I'm here to get that thing he has!" Chopper remembered.

"Well, if you seek him, there's an elevator up ahead that you can take to the top floor. You'll need the best of luck to face him. He's a king, and he's not someone to mess with. While you fight him, we'll try our best to escape."

"OK, but you might want to stay safe," Chopper suggested, turning his Cutter ability into a star that he removed and gave it to Trelder. "That should help you!"

"Thank you. Tell me your name, son."

"I'm Chopper."

"Chopper? I see... So what is a young boy doing, wandering around here without their parents?" Trelder wondered. The look from Chopper gave it all away. "Oh... I see. I'm very sorry about that. I wish I could do more to help, but seeing you handle that Leafion, I'm sure you don't need our help. For now, I wish you the best of luck."

The Treedos left the room, and Chopper walked into the next room, which was another hallway. He saw a yellow ? block with a yellow star in it. He looked a little confused, but when he grabbed it, he suddenly found himself sparkling.

"Huh? What's happening to me?" Chopper noticed, his speed increasing, along with making himself invisible. This allowed him to plow through all the enemies in his path with one touch. "Hey... This doesn't seem so bad!"

Unfortunately, the invincibility had not lasted too long.

"Awwww..."

Going through the door, he found another elevator room, making Chopper smile. He stepped into the elevator, and seeing only two buttons available, he pressed the number "3". With that, the elevator door closed, and the elevator began to go up.

"All right, Trinado, that Power Star piece will be mine soon!" Chopper declared. "After that, I'm going after the next piece!"

* * *

**Wow... It's been like three months since I updated this story! Well, it's not like anyone cares, because I don't think many people read this fic (but do I honestly care?). I'm kinda going to this story and then to A Thousand Years Ago. That story is meant to be after this one, despite ATYA being first in the timeline. **

**Now, we're getting to something called a "Boss Chapter". What is that, you ask? Well, a Boss Chapter is a chapter that has a boss fight in it. You can tell if it's one or not if I have the boss's name in it. There's also an interlude with the Boss Chapter. Having it as a separate chapter would be a little short, so that's why I have both in.**

**So... I hope the wait was worth it for those of you who like this fic!**


	5. Trinado: King of the Jungle

Chapter 5: Trinado: King of the Jungle

As Chopper went up the elevator, he heard the sounds of music playing. It wasn't particularly interesting, but it was better than nothing. Along with that, there were more magazines.

"Hey, they got a Gour…er… Gour Magazine?" Chopper tried to pronounce, when it was called "Gourmet Magazine", but like before, his reading wasn't too great. "Wow, I didn't know they had yummy cakes in here! ...Oh, if only I had one right now."

Chopper began to dream about sweets, but the thought bubble popped when the elevator door opened.

"Oh... I guess it's time to go."

Chopper walked out of the elevator and had ended up facing a big door. It was a black color with red eyes on it. To him, it looked freaky.

"Hmmmmm... I guess I have to go through here..."

The door opened up on its own, and Chopper walked through it into a large room with a bridge up ahead, with a poison pit down below. Thankfully, the bridge was sturdy, so it didn't look like it was going to fall. At the end of the room was a large computer. Below the computer was a terminal with many buttons.

Standing at the terminal was a leaf being that was larger in size compared to the Leafions, along with sharing purple eyes. However, like Leafions, he actually had pupils. He also wore a crown made of vines on his head, and his arms were also made of green vines. His feet, on the other hand, appeared to be made out of tree bark. On his back were two vine sword with a light purple glow to them.

"Everything's going according to plan, Lord Maquano!" Trinado announced, looking up at the large computer screen. On that screen was the demon knight himself, Maquano. "The Power Star Piece is safe in my hands! Nothing will stop me!"

Chopper tiptoed behind Trinado, hoping he'd manage to get the Power Star Piece with ease. However, Maquano could easily spot the boy and pointed in his direction.

_"Trinado! It appears you have a guest! Strangely, he looks familiar to me…" _Maquano trailed while Trinado turned to Chopper, appearing surprised to see him.

"What the…! Get outta here, you little brat! This is MY castle!" Trinado yelled, but then stopped for a minute as he stared at the boy. "Wait a second… How did you even _get_ here? My castle is heavily guarded!"

_"Wait a second... I've seen that face before…" _Maquano pondered for the moment until he realized who he was. _"You're that kid I saw on… Wait, I thought I exterminated them all?! HOW did you live through the destruction of your own planet?!"_

"Yeah! That's me!" Chopper nodded, glaring at Chopper. "And I'm not telling you how I got out! That's just stupid!"

_"I see..."_

"And you took away my mommy and daddy, and my planet, too!"

_"Of course I did! And it was so much fun!" _

"Fun? How is that fun?"_  
_

_"That's right. Besides, what would the world be like if it was peaceful? It would be too dull and nothing interesting would happen. I need to make sure that fear still exists within the universe. This world also needs a ruler, and I will be glad to rule this world…and then destroy it!"_

"No way!" Chopper cried. "My family's gone because of you, and I'm going to make sure I stop you!

_"Yeah yeah, tell that to the other people I've destroyed... It's not like you're the first one to try to get revenge on me..." _Maquano sighed as he rolled his eyes._ "Look, I don't have time for chit-chat. Trinado, go ahead and take care of him for me, OK? He should be easy pickings." _

"Of course, Lord Maquano! I'll take care of this boy for you!" Trinado nodded, turning the monitor off. He then turned to Chopper with a grin.

Chopper was unsure whether to be mad or scared.

"So… Let's get started, shall we?" Trinado pulled out his two poison vine swords and pointed them at Chopper. "If you want that Power Star Piece, you'll have to get past me first!"

Chopper rushed toward Trinado and started by stomping on his head. Trinado flinched, but he was able to knock him back with a kick from his foot, making him hit the wall.

"Ouch…" Chopper rubbed his head and got back up. He charged at Trinado again, attempting to throw a punch, but this didn't work out for him when Trinado easily grabbed a hold of his hand.

"Really? That's all you can do? Throw a punch?" Trinado swung his two vine swords, with Chopper easily in the open. To his luck, he had suddenly gained a serious look and disappeared from Trinado's sights. Soon enough, two feet had knocked him over, while Chopper landed, appearing surprised. "Argh! You lucky kid..."

_"I should try to eat one of those swords..."_ Chopper thought, opening his mouth, and like a vacuum, he began to inhale one of Trinado's swords.

"What the… How are you DOING that?!" Trinado gaped. When Chopper swallowed the sword, he got a floppy green hat and a sword of his own.

"Hey... It's this ability again..." Chopper gaped. He swung it a few times just to test it out while Trinado created a new poison vine sword.

"I don't know what the heck you are, but it's all going to end quick! NOBODY can stand up to my hypnosis!" Trinado's eyes began to let out a huge ray of rainbow colors, and music began to play as well while the ray went toward Chopper. "You'll soon be my new slave!"

Unfortunately, it wasn't doing a thing to Chopper.

"Huh? What?" Trinado gawked, noticing his hypnosis wasn't working. He tried again, but it failed too. He tried three more times. Still not luck. "What the heck is going on? I'm a MASTER at hypnosis! It should be working against you! Unless... This doesn't work on outsiders!"

While Trinado threw a tantrum, Chopper swung at Trinado's arm, cutting it off. But that didn't seem to affect Trinado too much. Soon enough, his arm had regenerated.

"Cut me all you want, but I'm simply going to regenerate thanks to the sunlight in here!" Trinado cackled. "So, you're doomed!"

_"Oh... Dang it. How can I beat him when it's sunny out?"_ Chopper thought. _"Maybe if I managed to burn him or something..."_

Chopper jumped out of the way before Trinado could slash at him. He had landed where the sun was brightest in the room, and he noticed his sword was reflecting the sunlight from it. It actually looked very hot, considering that a small amount of steam had appeared on the floor where it was reflected. This had given him an idea, and he was reflecting the light on Trinado. At first, the leaf king was cringing and covering his eyes, but he was soon grinning.

"Why thank you!" Trinado grinned, his size now increasing. "If you thought that would burn me, well, I'm afraid you're wrong. Now prepared to face my wrath!"

"Eep!" Chopper ducked when Trinado swung his sword. He brought his sword up to block the leaf king's next attack and was successful, to his relief. Chopper began to swing at Trinado once he stunned him with a stomp. Seeing the damage he took, Trinado rushed over to the sunlight, but Chopper was not going to let him reach it. He managed to outrun him and cut the bridge to prevent him from reaching the sunlight. "Ha! You can't get to that now!"

"You idiot! You realize that you've trapped us BOTH here? Now there's no turning back!"

"Then give me that Power Star Piece!" Chopper demanded. Trinado had decided to pull out the shiny object.

"You want this thing?" Trinado asked. Chopper was about to grab it from him but he held it up high. "Not a chance! I was trusted by Lord Maquano to hold onto this, and I'm not letting it go!"

"But I need it!"

"Yeah, well so do I. And keep trying to grab it. Your height won't help you reach this! Ha ha!"

Chopper glared at him, but then he decided to step on the leaf king's foot.

"Ow! You annoying brat!" Trinado cried, hopping around in pain. In anger, he had kicked Chopper and managed to swing his vine sword at him, poisoning him.

"Ack!" Chopper cried, getting knocked over, his sword dropping in the process and his face becoming paler. _"Ugh… I don't feel so good…"_

"Excellent! Lord Maquano will be proud when he finds out I defeated this boy! He'll reward me greatly for finally finishing the last of your kind!" Trinado smirked as he raised his swords. "One more attack from these bad boys and you're a goner!"

Chopper continued to cough from the poison, but he was able to get up - only to be limping. He staggered over to his sword and picked it up. "Even if I am badly poisoned…_cough_… I'm not gonna give up! I don't want to let my parents down like this…"

"You can't let your parents down? If they're already gone, then what's the point of thinking of them?"

"They mean a lot to me..."

"Kid, it's pointless to be thinking about them. They can't help you now. You're here all alone with nobody to give you a hand. So, I say stop bothering."

"Well... My parents told me that even if someone's no longer around, their spirit still is." Chopper wheezed.

"Their spirit? Look, I'm not expert on spirits or dead people. I'm a leaf king, for crying out loud! But, I highly doubt your parents are watching you, nor are they probably by your side at the moment."

"What? No! You're lying!"

"Hmmmmm... I could be, but maybe you could be right." Trinados pondered, approaching Chopper with his swords raised. "While I might not find the truth, maybe you might soon."

"_**NO!**_" Chopper used all the strength he could use and swung at Trinado with his sword. He got knocked back by the attack, and he also dropped a little container of something. Chopper had approached the small little bottle and took a look at it.

"An-ti-dote?"

Without doing anything else, he grabbed the bottle and drank some of the medicine. The poison affecting him had swiftly gone away, restoring Chopper's energy.

"Hey! I feel a lot better now!" Chopper cheered.

"Ack! I dropped the antidote! Not good! Not good! Not good!" Trinado pondered. "Er… _**CHARGE!**_"

Trinado charged at Chopper, his swords ready to attack. Chopper's eyes widened, unsure what to do. However, like the previous times, there was something within his mind that was forcing him to hold up his sword. That was when it was glowing white.

"Huh? What's this?" Chopper wondered. "What's with my sword?"

Curious over this, Chopper decided to swing in Trinado's direction. White energy in the shape of a crescent fired out from the blade and came toward Trinado. The leaf king brought his two vine swords up, but they were destroyed, and he was sliced in half by the attack.

"What? My body!" Trinado cried, stepping away from Chopper. "I'll… I'll remember this!"

Both sides of Trinado began to hop away from Chopper, but he forgot about the poison pit down below. He ended up falling down the pit, which left Chopper to to throw his Sword ability away, looking confused. But, he couldn't help but feel bad for him.

"I hope he's not too hurt by that..." Chopper trailed. Before he could make another commented, he noticed a glittering light float up from the pit and land in front of him. "Hey, it's the Power Star Piece!"

He grabbed the Power Star Piece and held it up high as a sign of victory. One down, seven more to go…

"All right, now that I got the Power Star piece, where do I go next?" Chopper wondered as he looked over at the terminal that Trinado was using earlier. Apparently, the teleporter was set up and ready to go. There, he saw the next location was a desert. "Maybe I should take this thing? Maybe there will be a Power Star Piece there..."

Chopper stepped into the teleporter, and soon he was out of the jungle.

_"I guess there's more than a jungle."_

* * *

**See? It didn't take me more than three months for THIS chapter! Oh, no...**

**Meh, I guess the whole battle was all right. Nothing too special. Later boss fights will probably be a lot better, trust me.  
**

**With that aside, we get to see what's going on with Maquano in the next chapter!**


	6. Getting a Chance to Be Bad

Chapter 6: Getting a Chance to Be Bad

Maquano sat in the throne room of his own castle on Clara, which consisted of two statues of himself, and lava down below. In fact, there was a circular platform before him with chains attached to the ceiling, just in case if there was a certain person he wasn't particularly fond of. Then again, it wasn't something he used nowadays when he had quicker ways of doing away with them. For the rest of his throne room, a red rug had led to his throne, and the walls were dark red, with some black smoke in some corners. It was also pretty hot, too, but these were temperatures Tartaras could handle.

As of now, he had heard the news of Trinados defeat, and he was less than pleased at the moment.

"What? Is all of this true?!" Maquano exclaimed, slammed his fist on the arm of his throne.

"Yes, it's true," Camikon confirmed. "Trinado was defeated by that boy. He also collected his first Power Star Piece."

"Well... This is a surprise..." the demon knight trailed. "When I first saw that boy, he didn't look like he could do much. But he somehow managed to defeat Trinado... This could turn out to be a problem..."

"Hmmmmm... Do you think that he has a hold of the Sacred Heart?" Camikon pondered. "That thing can give someone some immense power..."

"Perhaps you are right. I was hoping I'd destroy that thing when I destroyed the planet, but looks like I'm wrong. On the other hand, I'm not going to let a measly heart nor a four year old boy stop me."

"Yes… I wholeheartedly agree with you, Lord Maquano!" Camikon pulled out his wand and saw where Chopper was going next. "Bad news, Your Majesty… It looks like he's at the desert!"

"The desert? That's where the second Power Star Piece is!" Maquano realized. "I hope **Stoneard** is taking good care of that thing. He may have a brain that's the size of a pea, but he has immense strength. His strength is enough to take down an entire skyscraper."

"Oh, yes! I remember that! It was such a sight! I think he'll do a better job than Trinado did! He wasn't prepared…but he will!"

"Yes… But, I feel like he won't be ready just yet. If only I could get someone to slow that boy down..."

"What about us?"

Maquano stopped pondering and saw the Ghostly Trio rise up from the ground.

"And you are…?" Maquano began as he raised an eyebrow.

"Hi, there! My name's Gengly Gengar! This is Haunting Haunter and Ghastly Gastly! We're the Ghostly Trio!" Gengly introduced. "We're BAD guys, if you wanted to know."

"Yes. You surely do look like bad guys..." Maquano said sarcastically.

"We heard you needed someone to go take care of that boy, right? Well, we're experienced criminals, and we would like to help you slow him down a bit!" Gengly said, turning to his companions. "Isn't that right, boys?"

"Sure thing, Boss!"

"We don't require help from crazy lunatics! Get out of here this instant, whippersnappers!" Camikon yapped as he hit the Ghostly Trio with his wand.

"Hold on, Camikon…" Maquano cut in as he gestured Camikon to stop. "I think these three will come in handy. I DID say I needed someone to slow that boy down. I was thinking about sending in some Tartaras, but perhaps you three can get the job done instead. I want you to go out to the desert and take. Him. DOWN!"

"Yes, sir!" Gengly replied, giving him a stupid salute. "Let's beat it, boys!"

"Sure thing, Boss!" Ghastly said before they phased through the floor.

Maquano couldn't help but grin now that he had something to distract Chopper for now.

"Excellent… Things are going all according to plan! Heh heh heh heh!"

* * *

**This is a very short chapter, but this is probably the only chapter in this story that will be this short. The later interludes will not be as long, trust me.**

**Next chapter, we're going to the desert! ...Even though I'm not that much of a desert person. I'm more of a beach, snow, sky and space kind of person when it comes to areas. Deserts...not so much.**


	7. Exploring the Vast Desert

Chapter 7: Exploring the Vast Desert

Chopper was teleported to the desert, but to his surprise, he didn't feel the ground underneath him. Looking, down, he realized he was in midair, and he had plummeted into the sand headfirst. After getting up, he looked at his surroundings. He could see the yellowish blue sky, but the landscape itself was very sandy and uninteresting.

"Wow, so this is the next area? Well this looks boring..." Chopper trailed, not looking too interested. That was, until he heard a chirping sound. "Huh?"

He looked down and saw a small round creature with two beady eyes and a smile. The little creature was hugging Chopper's foot, despite the fact that it had no arms and legs.

"Oh, hey there! What are you doing here?" Chopper picked up the little creature and put it on the palm of his hand. "Well, whatever you are, you look like you're nice! Did you come to me because you were thinking I could help you?"

The creature gave a nod in response.

"Well, I guess I can let you come with me. Do you have a name?" Chopper asked. The creature's smile changed to a blank look when it shook its head. "Oh... Well... You look round…like the number zero! I think I'll call you Zero! Is that good?"

Zero nodded cheerfully and then Chopper put it on his shoulder.

"Great! All right then, Zero! Let's go find that Power Star Piece out in the desert! …I just hope I can find it in time before things get worse…"

Chopper ran on ahead through the vast desert, but he stopped when he saw a large hill going down. He noticed two stone creatures that were oval-shaped talking to each other. These were discovered to be Rockos according to the author.

"Me heard that Stoneard has rocks in mines," the first Rocko said. The other Rocko scratched its head, but it noticed Chopper on the top of the hill, so it tapped its fellow Rocko on the shoulder and pointed to him.

"Er… What's that pale green thing over there? It reminds me of something squishy…" the Rocko pounded its fists. "…And I HATE squishy objects!"

"Uh oh…" Chopper gulped while Zero growled at the two Rockos. They curled up and began to roll up the hill toward Chopper. "Oh, no... That's not good!"

Suddenly, Chopper opened his mouth and began to inhale one of the Rockos. He was surprised to see that he was actually doing this, having a feeling that the heart was doing this instead. Once he ate the Rocko, his appearance began to change. When he looked at himself, he saw his skin changed to a light brown tint with dark brown gloves and shoes. There was also a blue samurai helmet on his head with a red tuft of hair on top of the guard on the back with a star on the forehead piece.

"This is new... Maybe I can use this ability's powers?" Chopper saw the other Rocko coming at him, but once he used his ability, he turned into a statue. One that was stronger than a Rocko.

When the rock monster punched Chopper, he didn't budge. However, the Rocko noticed it was cracked, and then it suddenly broke into smithereens. Chopper noticed what he did and gaped at the pieces of the Rocko.

"Whoa… Did I do that? Zero, did you see that?" Chopper asked, looking at Zero, who bounced up and down while nodding at him. "All right... Well, I guess we better get moving."

Chopper took off down the hill, which made his speed increase. There weren't any interesting things around the area, to his dismay. Just the same, boring sandy landscape. Even after traveling for a while, he still hadn't found much.

"Ugh… This place is nothing but sand. I don't see a thing around here! I wish we could find some people and ask about any big castle or something..."

"Oh, we'll help you get to the castle!"

Chopper's attention quickly shifted to two Darklings that appeared from the sky. They had yellow eyes and a yellow bulb. Obviously these kind were the ones that inhabited the desert. He jumped out of the way when the Darklings fired their yellow spell at him. He stomped on one of the Darklings while he smashed the other with his Stone ability.

"Ack! I'm going to make you pay for that!" the Darkling punched Chopper in the face, but then it paid the price when Chopper came down on it as a stone. What was strange was that he turned into a statue of a manly man with the perfect body. He then turned back to himself, relieved that they were out of the way. He ran on ahead with Zero, unintentionally, crashing into some Darklings and sending them flying. "Oh... I didn't see that."

Two Rockos happened to be nearby, and they prepared to roll over Chopper upon spotting him. While he was running toward them, he gasped when he saw them getting closer. Since he didn't have time to slow down, he closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.

Then it happened again. His arm had thrust forward, and a rock fist had appeared around his hand. They easily smashed through the Rockos and defeated them. Chopper opened his eyes and noticed he was still alive, so he came to a halt and looked back at the destroyed Rockos. Then he looked back at his rock fist hand. Soon enough, it had crumbled.

"What was that?" Chopper wondered. "I... I never planned on that! Did you see that, Zero?"

Zero gave him an unsure look.

"Well... This is really annoying me." the boy frowned. "There are times when something bad happens to me that I suddenly do something that I didn't want to do! Then there are those times when something bad happens to me, it does happen! I don't know about you, but this heart thingy is really being a big jerk to me..."

Zero had given him a frown.

"There's not much I can do right now... I better get going..." Chopper sighed, picking up the pace and running on. "I have a feeling that this will be a looooooooong journey…"

* * *

**Ten minutes later-**

Unfortunately, Chopper's travels did not necessarily get him anywhere. Sure, he had run into a pit of quicksand, but after that, it was smooth sailing. Despite this, there was another big problem for him.

"Ugh… I'm so thirsty… I wish… I wish I had some…" Chopper noticed a pond up ahead. "…Water?!"

He rushed toward the pond and jumped in. Zero, too, also jumped in the water with delight and they began to splash around and drink from it.

The only problem was…that it was just in their imagination. They were actually putting sand in their mouth. It didn't take them long enough to realize this and spit out the sand from their mouths.

"ACK! That was sand all along!" Chopper wiped the sand off of his tongue until he saw a vending machine out in the distance. Was this his imagination again? Well, it surely was an Apple Juice vending machine. "Hey, that looks like those things I saw on my planet! And it has apple juice in it, yay!"

Zero bounced happily and walked over to the machine with the Chopper. Unfortunately, they had run into a similar problem like with the water.

It was a Dr. Pepper vending machine…

"Dang it... That's not something I'd like at the moment..." Chopper sighed as Zero got back on his shoulder. "We'll just have to go without food or water…"

Zero bounced in agreement.

"All right, boys, listen up!"

It had stopped in midair when the voice caught both it and Chopper off guard, the latter's antennas springing up. Down a sandy hill nearby was the Ghostly Trio formulating a plan. The leader, Gengly, was the one speaking.

"So, boys… We got our orders, and now we gotta follow 'em!" Gengly confirmed. "…That means no messin' around, all right?"

"Right, boss," both Haunting and Ghastly nodded.

"So… Tell me, Haunting… Ya got an idea on what we're doing, yes?" Gengly eyed him, who was pretending to pick at his fangs.

"Err… Yeah! I knew what you were sayin'! We gotta git that kid an' put 'im in the cellar!" Haunting explained, only to get smacked in the face by Gengly.

"Will you quit talkin' in your cowboyish accent already? It's gettin' annoyin'! And besides, I heard that boy could be here any second!"

Ghastly turned and noticed Chopper up at the hill and spoke in his British accent. "Er… Boss… I'm afraid we have a little problem. Look up the hill and you'll see."

"What do ya mean?" Gengly looked over at the hill and saw Chopper looking down at them. "Hey, it's that kid! ...Wait, what's up with him? He's a light brown, and now he's wearing that weird helmet. I thought he was pale green with antennas?"

"I thought so too," Chopper began as he started to slide down the sandy hill and landed near the Ghostly Trio. Zero simply growled at them. "I guess I can copy abilities when I eat something..."

"What? Oh… Well, anyway… I bet you remember who we are, right? You know, the baddest of the bad!" Gengly said, he, Haunting, and Ghastly all making weird poses.

Chopper scratched the back of his head, appearing confused. "I don't know you guys... Sorry..."

The Ghostly Trio had fallen over in frustration. Eventually Gengly got up, appearing very irritated.

"We're the Ghostly Trio!" Gengly yelled in Chopper's face. "Don't ya even REMEMBER?! We caused a big crime back in the jungle! We made a huge riot, for Pete's sake!"

"I don't remember that..." Chopper trailed, stepping away from him. "So, why were you looking for me?"

"Well… We're here to…take you down! Tell him, boys!" Gengly stepped back and watched as Ghastly and Haunting nodded with grins.

"Yeah! Sorry, but the kid's gotta go!" Haunting declared.

"So, you better stay out of Lord Maquano's business…or else we'll get YOU!" Ghastly cackled.

"You people want to fight me? But... Why would you?" Chopper wondered. "You guys don't look like you're that threatening..."

"What?! Heck no! We're the DEFINITION of threatening!" Gengly yelled. "We're hardcore! We once crossed the street without looking both ways! That's how hardcore we are!"

"OK... Well, I don't have much time to talk to you guys. I need to find the next Power Star Piece!" Chopper declared, starting to walk away from the Ghostly Trio.

"Argh... That no-good...freaky...thing!" Gengly growled, conjuring up a shadow ball. "I'll show him how hardcore we are!"

He threw the shadow ball at Chopper, causing him to fall over and knock away his Stone ability.

"Way to go, Boss!" Haunting clapped. "Ya got him!"

"Yeah! ...We did it!" Gengly grinned. "He's history now!"

"Ugh…" Chopper groaned as he slowly got back up and rubbed his head. Zero gave the Ghostly Trio a glare, while they quickly brought their attention to him. "That wasn't very nice!"

"Of course we're not nice! We're the bad guys!"

"Well, then I guess I have to fight you guys..." Chopper trailed, rushing at Gengly. He attempted to jump on him, but he ended up phasing through his body and tripped.

"Geng geng geng! Stupid little kid! You know that you can't hit a ghost! But I can do THIS!" Gengly punched Chopper in the face with a Shadow Punch, knocking him back by one of the rocks. The two other ghosts laughed like idiots. "Quiet, you two!"

Chopper rubbed his head after the punch. "Ugh… How can I hit them when that didn't work?"

Ghastly appeared in front of Chopper with his tongue sticking out, attempting to paralyze him with his licking attack. However, Chopper managed to grab a hold of his tongue, which surprisingly didn't phase through him. Shocked by this, Chopper began to spin Ghastly around, leaving the Gastly dizzy in the process. And he wasn't the only one joining in on this either. While he continued spinning Ghastly, both Gengly and Haunting were getting constantly hit by their comrade.

"I don't like this one bit!" Ghastly cried.

"Well, I guess this is what happens when we're lower-class villains," Haunting said, only to get smacked by Gengly.

"Quiet, you! You're distracting me at the moment!" Gengly snapped. "We're supposed to be taking this boy out!"

"Well, it's not my fault! It's hard to git away from that hittin' an'…whatever they call those whatchamacallits. Aw, who really cares?" Haunting rubbed his head, but it became worse when the two ghosts were knocked down like bowling pins when Chopper let go of Ghastly's tongue.

"Oh, my poor tongue…" Ghastly moaned, his tongue sticking out while in pain.

"Oh, quit whining about your tongue, you big crybaby!" Gengly retorted.

"Big? But I'm not even bigger than you…"

"Oh, never mind... Let's just destroy him." Gengly made another shadow ball and threw it at Chopper, only to have it get inhaled and spat back at him, causing him immense pain. "Argh! Crud, that was super effective!"

"Why are we weak to our own typeth of attackth?" Ghastly asked.

"Beats me. I didn't think of that idea." Haunting shrugged.

"Both of you quiet! ...This time, I'm going to make it easy on me!" Gengly slowly got up and attempted to make Chopper fall asleep with his hypnosis, but it ended up missing instead, since Chopper was able to get out of the way. He tried a couple more times, but each time it missed. "Grrrrrr! Stop avoiding my attack!"

"No!" Chopper retorted, jumping out of the way of another one. He had unintentionally hit a yellow ? block, and a Fire Flower had popped out and landed in his hand, turning his gloves red. "Hey... I've got one of these now!"

"Whoa… What in the world does he have there?" Haunting gawked.

"This should help me," Chopper smiled as he tossed three fireballs at the Ghostly Trio, setting them on fire. Zero giggled as well upon seeing this.

"Ack! The fire! It burns!" Gengly noticed that his hat caught on fire too. "NO! Not my precious hat! That's the sole reason why it makes me the leader! I treat it like it's my life!"

"I don't git it," Haunting remarked.

"You don't HAVE to 'git' it, you idiot. This hat makes me a leader. If you don't like it, then I'm gonna fire ya!"

"Heh heh... You said 'fire' when we're on fire!"

"Oh, shut up. That joke's so stupid..."

"Uhhh… Are you two done talking to each other?" Chopper asked.

"Urrghh!" Gengly growled at Chopper while hurling a shadow ball in his direction. Chopper thought for a moment, but he decided to throw a fireball to counter, causing an explosion between the two projectiles.

"Wow. We're getting our buttths handed to uth by thome kid!" Ghastly shouted, tongue still sticking out. "That'th juth…thtupid. How are we NOT even winning, bothth?"

Gengly grabbed Ghastly by the tongue and brought his face close to his. "Listen to me, you little punk! If you EVER tell anyone about this whole situation, I swear, I'll tie your tongue to a truck that will be traveling around the world at two hundred miles and hour!"

"Uh… That'th not very nithe…"

"Of course it's not nice, you idiot!" Gengly threw Ghastly in Chopper's direction. "Now go get him!"

Ghastly bumped into Chopper, but his luck became even worse when Chopper scorched him with another fireball. This was enough to send him crashing into Haunting and Gengly, setting them on fire as well.

"_**AAAAAAAAAH! THIS AIN'T GOOD!**_"

The Ghostly Trio were running in circles as they were enveloped in flames. Zero laughed at them while Chopper slightly laughed as well. Though, he was only laughing less because he couldn't help but feel bad for them.

After the flames went out on them, they looked over at Chopper with menacing looks that didn't seem too menacing to Chopper.

"Nyeah heh heh heh! Finally! Now that the flames are out on us, we can finally finish you for-" Before Gengly could finish, he noticed that they were stuck. "What the… Why can't I move?"

"I think we're in quicksand, Boss," Haunting said.

"Yes, I know about that!"

Chopper approached the Ghostly Trio, making sure that he wasn't touching the quicksand. "Well... I guess you guys are not going to be fighting me now. So... I win?"

"Not a chance!" Gengly growled, trying to step out, but failing horribly. "Agggh! How did we not see this coming?!"

"Errr… I dunno. Was it 'cause we were slackin' off or somethin'?" Haunting asked stupidly, only to get smacked by Gengly.

"Oh, shut up..." the ghost growled, noticing that the quicksand was down to his knees. "This is your fault, you guys..."

"I don't understand how I'm caught in the-" Ghastly's words were cut off when the quicksand was at his mouth, muffling his voice. Same thing with Haunting.

"We'll get you for this, kid," Gengly growled. "We'll make sure that we're the baddest bad guys you'll ever come across!"

Chopper ignored them and bounced off the top of their heads to go across the quicksand. The Ghostly Trio were a little ticked, but they couldn't do anything about it. After all, they were nearly sinking to their doom.

"Well, now that that's taken care of, we can finally get a move on, Zero!" Chopper smiled at Zero, while it smiled back. He began to take off through the sands as the sun was setting. "Gee... It sure is getting dark..."

Eventually, after running for quite a while, the sun had set, and it was now dark. Chopper ended up stopping to shiver.

"Gee… It sure is cold around here…" Chopper shivered, his speed significantly slowing down. "I wish there was a place that was warm..."

Zero looked around the desert, hoping to find something that could. It noticed a small village not too far ahead, so it nudged Chopper and gestured at the village.

"Huh? Oh, thanks, Zero… Looks like we found a little town! Let's go check and see what's going on over there. …And hopefully we'll find someplace warm, too!"

With that, Chopper rushed to the village.

* * *

**At the village-**

Chopper made a huge brake as soon as he made it in, which made sand go all over the place. "Oops! I didn't mean to do that!"

"Oh, that's all right…"

Two yellow-eyed Darklings came out of the shadows and tried to grab Chopper. One of them got rid of Chopper's Fire Flower ability with a yellow spell that struck him.

"Ack!" Chopper cringed from the hit, but he managed to kick the two Darklings, knocking them on the ground. To his surprise, they had already been defeated. "Wait, that's it? Well... That stinks..."

Looking at his surroundings, he didn't see any sight of people. All he heard was the wind around him, and he also saw a tumbleweed roll across the town.

"Hello? Anyone?!"

He walked around silently, only hearing the sounds of his feet touching the sand at this point.

"Ugh… There's nobody here!" Chopper frowned. "Well, there's gotta be something around here! It's not like I'm going to stand here forever and wait!"

He searched the village to see if there was a place where he could say. Zero was the first to notice an inn, so it gestured Chopper to look over by the bigger building.

"Oh! Maybe I could check that place!" Chopper smiled as he walked over to the inn and opened the door inside. It was a well-made inn, having a nice, marble floor and stairs leading up to the second floor. The first thing he did was walk over to the desk, but it didn't appear to be short enough for him. "Uhhhh... Can you see if anyone's on the other side, Zero?"

Zero nodded and let itself get tossed up to the desk. It bounced around to see if anything was around, but, unfortunately, there wasn't anyone. It went back down and shook its head.

"Nobody's there? What the heck's going on here?" Chopper wondered while he walked over to the couch and sat down. "It's so silent... But at least it's light in here."

He eyed the room carefully, noticing a list nearby. Curious, he got off the couch and decided to check it out. It appeared to have many things such as activities, and even a pool and restaurant.

"Ooh! I think I should check these things out!" Chopper cheered. "What do you say, Zero?"

Zero bounced up and down while nodding.

"Yeah! That's the spirit!" Chopper smiled, but then he thought for a minute. "Hold on… Shouldn't there still be some people here? Or are they asleep? I think I should have a look around this hotel."

Like a bullet, he moved around the hotel, hoping to find someone.

* * *

**Fifteen minutes later-**

Chopper returned to the lobby, plopping down on the comfy couch with a frown. "There's not a thing in here... I guess this place really is empty. What am I supposed to do now?"

At that point, his antennas started to twitch.

"Huh?" Chopper got up from the couch and looked up at his antennas. "Am I...picking up something? It feels like there's something outside..."

Chopper instantly bolted out of the hotel and left the town. He scanned the landscape around him until he spotted a large hill with a doorway leading into somewhere.

"I think it's coming from there..." Chopper trailed, getting much closer to the hill. That was when he was starting to hear voices.

_"I swear, man… Doing all of this labor for Lord Maquano is backbreaking!"  
_

_"Oh, shut up. You'll live through it. We're just pushing a boulder. Nothing special. At least we get better treatment than those Darkling guys…"_

"What's going on in there?" Chopper wondered, noticing that the voices were pretty gnarly. "Those voices really freak me out…"

Chopper took a couple of steps nervously over to the doorway. Zero's heart felt like it was beating ten times its normal speed, and that usually wasn't something good.

"OK…" Chopper took a deep breath as he stood in front of the entrance. "I think I need to go through here if I'm going to find that Power Star Piece… Well, I hope it's the right place."

Being as brave as he could, he stepped into the dark cave and into the mines.


	8. Through the Dark Mines

Chapter 8: Through the Dark Mines

"Man… It's kinda dark in here. I wish I had some kind of light." Chopper said as he walked into the dark cave. "All I can feel is some kind of track of some sort. Is it a mine cart track or something?"

Zero couldn't really respond to his question, leaving Chopper to sigh.

"Sometimes I wish I didn't feel so lonely... Well, at least you're here, Zero."

The look on Zero's face couldn't help but make Chopper smiled.

"Well, let's get going," Chopper took a couple of steps in the dark cave. He noticed there was something glowing up ahead. "Huh? What's that?"

Zero tried to get a closer look at what was up ahead. Little did they know that something bad was happening there.

* * *

**Over by the light-**

"So, should we make sure that these people are doing all of the work right?" a Tatara Grunt holding a lantern asked the soldier. The grunts were smaller than the normal soldiers, being nearly Chopper's height.

"…You check on them and whack 'em with your weapon if they're not doing any work." the Tatara Soldier explained, turning its attention to the workers. "Get to work! If I don't see you working, you'll suffer a severe punishment!"

The people that had pyramids for heads began to strike the rock with their pickaxes. There were all kinds of these Pyramins, including men and women. They even made the children work as well. Their legs were chained so that they couldn't make their escape.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea, sir?" another Tatara Grunt chirped. "I mean, what are we getting out of this?"

A large Tartara carrying a hammer looked down at the Grunt with a glare. "These are Lord Maquano's orders, you dolt! If we don't listen to them, then it'll be US who receives the severe punishment! Besides, these Pyramins weren't doing anything special, so it's better that we put them into work. There's also a lot of material here that could help us make some more weapons too."

"Oh... Well, there's still that little kid that's walking around these parts! Lord Maquano warned us about him! I mean, he took down Trinado!"

"Oh, shut your trap!" the Tatara Soldier kicked the Grunt. "You and your other Grunts are so worried over nothing! If that kid ever showed up, we'd blast him! Besides… He's just one person. He's not going to stop us..."

"But… But… He can eat anything in sight! I once saw him…eating a Rocko!"

"That's not a problem. Those Rockos aren't that tough compared to us. And what can he do? Steal their abilities? That won't do much to help stop us!"

As the Tataras began to argue, two Pyramins looked at each other in confusion, and they knew this was their chance to speak.

"Ugh… I can't believe we've been put in this mess… What do these guys have against us anyway? We didn't do a THING to them!" a Pyramin named Joe whispered to his friend, Bob.

"Well, I heard that their leader, Maquano, is doing all of this because he has no sympathy for anyone in the world," Bob stopped hitting the rocks and he wiped his brow. "What kind of guy is he, doing this to us? We shouldn't be responsible for this work."

"Yeah, I hear ya. I'm a little worried about my wife and son. If they don't do anything, then they're probably going to get injured…or worse." Joe gulped.

"Oh, relax. I don't think that's going to happen. I think things will look bright in-" Bob suddenly stopped talking when a burst of flames had suddenly engulfed him. "AAAGGHHHHH!"

The Tatara Warrior finished breathing fire and grinned as Bob was covered in soot. Joe watched in horror as his friend had fallen to the floor, not even making any other movements.

"Now let that be a lesson to all of you! If we ever catch you speaking or taking a break, you'll join him! …And as for you…" the Swordsman whacked Joe across the face with its sword's handle. "If we EVER catch you speaking with anyone else, you'll be expecting something even hotter than my fire breath!"

Joe grit his teeth at the Swordsman. "I can't believe you... Why would you do something like that?"

This time, it was the Tartara Brute that stepped in, snarling at the Pyramin. "Get back to work..."

Joe frowned as he began to go back to work, while the Brute stepped away from him. _"Some day, they're going to get what's coming..."_

* * *

**Back to Chopper-**

"I guess we better take a look at what that light might be…" Chopper squinted as he tried to make his way through the mines. "Man… I can barely see anything here! I wish I had some light of my own.

To his surprise, he could hear the sound of a boulder. Nearby, a couple of Tatara Grunts were trying to push a large boulder out of the way. One of them was carrying a lantern.

"Aw, crud! I almost forgot that I was carrying my lantern with me!" one of the Tatara Grunts grumbled. "I don't know if it's a good idea to be moving this when I got something that can let us see!"

"Oh, would you quit your whining?" another Tatara Grunt asked. "Hey, here's an idea! How about you go sit in the corner getting fat while we keep pushing this boulder?"

"Shut up! I'm not fat! I'm big-boned, for your information! And why are we moving this stupid thing in the first place? Did Lord Maquano even tell us to do this?"

"Actually… I don't remember if he did. All I remember is that he said that we should block that kid off with this boulder..."

"But how in the heck are we supposed to find him when everything's so dark? He probably doesn't even have a lantern with him. Unless if he was pretty stupid to carry one..."

Zero was a bit peeved that they were sort of "scoffing" Chopper. It got off Chopper's shoulder and began to bounce over to the Tatara Grunt with the lantern.

"Hey… I smell something coming close." the Tatara Grunt began to sniff the area. "I don't know what it is, but I feel like something's…coming closer to me-EEEEE!"

The Grunt got knocked to the ground by Zero, who grabbed the lantern and went over to Chopper.

"Zero! You shouldn't have done that!" Chopper scolded as Zero handed him the lantern. Now the Tatara Grunts could see the young boy in front of them.

"It's that kid! Get him!" the Tatara Grunts pulled their blasters out and began to fire at Chopper. With that lantern, they were able to see him easily.

"Uh oh!" Chopper ran on the wall to avoid the shots, and then he quickly jumped off to stomp on one of the Grunts. Unfortunately, a simple jump wasn't going to defeat it.

"Ack! Get off of me, you freak!" the Grunt tried to shake Chopper off, but he managed to land a kick that left it to drop its weapon. When he inhaled the blaster, he gained a silver visor on his head that had a little scope for his left eye.

"Huh? A new ability? Well, let's hope this helps." Chopper said as he fired a green laser straight at one of the Grunt's chests, defeating it within seconds. "Oh... So that works well."

"Hey! How dare you shoot my fat friend!" the other Tatara Grunt tried to whack at Chopper, but he managed to jump and let it trip and then a kick it in the head that knocked it out for a bit. He fired a laser at the blaster it had to destroy it. When the Grunt got up, instead of trying to attack him, it fled. "I want to liiiiiive!"

"Oh... Well that was easy." Chopper remarked.

"Man, what a coward he was!" spat the other Tatara Grunt, glaring at Chopper. "If there's anyone that can get anything done, that would be ME!"

The Grunt tried to whack Chopper, but he was too fast for it. With one charged laser from his visor, he managed to leave the Grunt on its knees, near defeat.

"Urgh… You… You… Who ARE you?!" the grunt growled.

"Well... My name is Chopper!" Chopper declared, making a stupid pose. "And... I'm here to get that Power Star Piece!"

"_Grrghh… Hackptthh…_" the Tatara Grunt grumbled. "You're not going to find that Power Star Piece anywhere! And I won't tell you a thing either!"

"OK... Well, I'm going to get going then." Chopper began to scurry off with his lantern, but little did he know that the Grunt was trying to reach for its blaster. Grinning, it attempted to fire at Chopper, but it lacked the strength to do so and lowered its arm.

Meanwhile, now with a lantern, Chopper could see his surroundings more easily. Well, it still didn't help that it was a bit dark to see, but light was light. What he could see, however, were tracks on the floor.

"Let's see where this will lead up," Chopper suggested as he started to pick up the pace.

* * *

**Three minutes later-**

"Oh, man… I don't know how long this lantern's gonna last…" Chopper said with a puzzled look, noticing the lantern's light get dimmer. "I don't want this thing to wear out easily! That'd be bad!"

Zero had paused when it heard the sounds of grunts and growls up ahead. Chopper had heard them as well, causing him to suddenly pause.

"What is that?" Chopper wondered, listening in carefully. The voices did not sound necessarily happy, though. "...We should be careful."

Chopper had found a big rock near the left of these mines ahead, so he decided to hide behind it and take a peek at what was going on. He saw some Pyramins hitting the rocks with their pickaxes.

"Who are those people? …And what's with their heads?" Chopper questioned.

"Keep working, Pyramins!" the Tatara Brute had his large hammer in its hand, ready to whack at any of the Pyramins that didn't bother to work. "Remember… If you lay off, you're getting the hammer!"

Chopper gaped at the size of the Tatara Brute. "What the… There are Tataras at that size?! They weren't even that big when Meta Knight fought them!"

Zero nudged Chopper a bit, gesturing him to quiet down. Being a good boy that he was raised to be by his parents, he stayed quiet and watched the Tataras watch over the Pyramins.

"I want you to go faster, you fools! If you don't find enough gold by the end of the night, a majority of you will be wiped out!" the Tartara Brute warned. "I don't think you would want that, do you?"

"If you plan on wiping us out, then start with me first," Joe growled, standing up. "I know my wife and son may not be happy to hear this, but I'll do it if you let the others live."

"Well, I don't think I can promise that, but sure, I'll take you out!" the Brute smirked, raising its hammer. "This is going to be fun!"

Chopper knew he had to act now, and seeing the Tartara Brute raise its weapon like that gave him the perfect opportunity. He charged a laser and fired it at the Brute's hand, forcing it to drop its hammer.

"ARRGHH! WHO…DID THIS?!" the Tatara Brute turned to one of the Tatara Soldiers, giving them a suspicious and angry look. "Tell me _**WHO**_ did this right now, or else one of you at random is going to pay for this crime!"_**  
**_

"Whoa, man! Calm down! Sheesh!" the Tatara Swordsman shouted. "We didn't do anything to you! I mean, why WOULD we?!"

"Urrghh…" the Brute glared at the other Tataras. "Next time you try to prevent me from smashing a prisoner, you will take their place instead!"

"OK..."

"Yeah, of course."

"I ain't going to hit you."

"Good," the Tartara Brute raised its hammer again, but another laser struck its arm, dropping his weapon once again. "ARRGHHHH! I told you NOT to do that!"

"This is actually kind of funny," Chopper giggled as he saw the Brute trying to swing at the Swordsman. Unfortunately, the big guy wasn't able to catch up to the Swordsman, being much slower.

The prisoners looked at the Tataras with confused looks, but one of the Grunts began to laugh at the Brute.

"Oh, man! Now THIS is hilarious! Bah ha ha ha!" the Grunt fell back on the rock that Chopper was hiding behind and ended up falling on top of him. "Ow! What the…"

The Tatara Grunt gaped as it saw that Chopper was hiding behind the rock.

"Uh oh..." Chopper gulped.

"WHOA! Hey, Brute guy! We have a problem!" the Tartara Grunt got off of Chopper and went over to the Brute, who continued to chase the Swordsman.

"What do you want, Grunt?!" growled the Tatara Brute. "Can't you see that I'm busy here?! He is going against me! …And you should be watching those prisoners."

"But it's something important!" the Grunt wailed, shaking his arms. "You know that kid that Lord Maquano told us about?"

"Yes... Why do you ask?"

"Well… HE'S HERE!"

"What?! Say that isn't so!" the Tatara Brute stomped over to the rock Chopper was hiding behind and obviously spotted him. "Ah! So you ARE here! You're just in time as well!"

"Eep!" Chopper tried to fire a laser at the Brute, but that only got it angrier.

"You little…! C'mere!" the Brute tried to grab Chopper, but Zero hopped off of Chopper's shoulder and attempted to bite the Brute. Since it lacked teeth, this was not very effective. Instead, it made the Tartara Brute look down at Zero. "Oh, what a cute little creature you have here! And I HATE cute things!"

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Chopper gaped as he saw the Brute pick up Zero with a grin. "Put him down!"

"What a very interesting creature you have with you..." the Tartara Brute remarked, looking at the growling Zero. "I don't think I've ever set my eyes on it before... Aside from you, of course."

The Swordsman looked at the growling Zero. "Hmmmmmmmm… You know… I feel some kind of power coming from within that. It's almost like…a dark power. Can you feel it?"

"Dark power? What are you talking about?" Chopper asked.

The Tatara Brute examined Zero. "You know, you're right! I do sense some dark power within this thing! Maybe I won't punish you after all!"

"Awesome..." the Tartara Swordsman grinned.

"Though, I don't know if I can do anything to release its dark power... That's something only Lord Maquano can do."

"Give me back my friend!" Chopper cried, attempting to grab Zero, but the Brute pushed him away without even looking.

"I don't have time to deal with the likes of you," the Tartara Brute stated. "Maybe some other time. For now, I need to take this little critter to Lord Maquano right away!"

"No!" the boy gasped, seeing the Tartara Brute take out a small sack and stuff Zero in it. He could see the little creature squirming inside, but the large Tartara wasn't letting go any time soon.

"As for you, Tataras… Take care of Chopper and get back to work!"

"Of course, sir!" As the Tatara Brute jumped on a mine cart to take off, the Swordsman grinned. "All right, Tataras! We'll show this little boy what we can do!"

Chopper clenched his fists, not looking happy at this point. He wasted no time and shot a laser from at one of the Grunts. That left it wounded, but another Grunt jumped him from behind.

"I got him! I got him!" it cried.

"Eep!" Chopper managed to throw the Tatara Grunt off him and push him over by the Swordsman, knocking them both by one of the rocks.

"Oh, my aching..."

The Swordsman pushed the Grunt off of it and charged straight for Chopper.

"This is FAR from over, you know!" the Swordsman scoffed, attempting to swing at the pale green boy, who jumped out of the way and landed behind him. This left its sword stuck in the ground, leaving the Tartara to pull its sword out of the ground. "How does he manage to move like that? He feels so...abnormal!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but you're not getting in my way!" Chopper declared, shooting a laser at a Grunt to defeat it. "That takes care of that..."

"Not when I'm here!" the Swordsman exclaimed as it raised its sword to attack Chopper. It almost felt like he wouldn't be able to avoid it, but then that feeling suddenly sparked in him, and he managed to roll out of the way and kick the Swordsman in the face once the sword hit the sand. The Tatara Swordsman was left in shock, along with Chopper, but then the Tartara looked over at the helpless Pyramins that were watching the fight and scowled at them. "What are you idiots doing?! Get back to work!"

Despite being surprised, Chopper got back in the fight and fired a laser at the Swordsman, but it brought its sword up in time, which prevented itself from taking any damage, but at the cost of it sword breaking.

"Great... And this was my only sword I carried around..." the Tartara Swordsman groaned before looking at the broken sword. "Wait... Maybe it still works!"

Before it could attack, Chopper fired another laser at the Swordsman, but this time it struck its hand to make the enemy drop the sword. With it unarmed, Chopper ran up to the Tartara and began to jump on its head.

"Get off of me!" the Tatara attempted to get him off with the use of its claws, tail, and even its fire breath, but all of these efforts had failed when it received another painful stomp.

"Dog pile on the kid!" two Tatara Grunts attempted to tackle Chopper, which resulted in him bouncing off the Tartara Swordsman while it was ready to breathe more fire. As a result, a Grunt got scorched instead because it was where Chopper originally was.

"_**YEEEEEEEEOUCH!**_"

The Tatara Grunt began to shake off the soot and glare at the Swordsman. "You idiot! Look what you did to my awesome, not-so-fat body!"

"Oh, shut up!" the Swordsman whacked the Grunt across the face and took its blaster. "Now I'll be taking this, thank you very much…"

With that, the Tartara Swordsman began to fire at Chopper and was able to hit him once, but it didn't knock his Laser ability away.

_"Urghh… I was hoping to be able to knock that ability away from him… Then this fight would be in the bag." _thought the Tatara Swordsman as it fired rapidly until the gun overheated. "Argh! Stupid gun!"

Chopper managed to shoot the Tatara Swordsman and the two Grunts with a charged up laser shot, knocking them to the ground. The two Grunts were defeated, but the Swordsman was on its knees.

"Urgh… You really have done it this time, kid…" grumbled the Swordsman as it glared at Chopper. "But… You'll NEVER get your hands on that Power Star Piece! You've been warned… _…Unnnngghh..._"

With that, the Tartara Swordsman stopped moving. Chopper sighed in relief and turned ahead, only to spot the Pyramins gaping at him.

"Could this really be?"

"He just defeated those evil monsters!"

"He's a hero!"

"Someone needs to give this kid a medal! He did something that I didn't expect him to get done!"

"I want his autograph!"

"Why is he out alone?"

"Oh, uh... Hi?" Chopper waved, quickly looking down at the cuffs on their legs. "What are those things around your feet?"

"They're cuffs," Joe explained, wiping some dirt off his forehead. "Maybe you could help us by setting us free?"

"Well... I don't know if I have time to do that. My friend was just kidnapped..." Chopper trailed, ready to go on ahead. Many Pyramins were let down by this, but as Chopper walked on ahead, he felt some kind of force in him that was pushing him back. "Huh? What's going on? Why do I have this weird feeling in my head?"

He looked back at the Pyramins for a moment, and after thinking, he decided to walk back to them. Chopper fired lasers at each of the chains that the Pyramins were being chained to, which left them surprised. With them all free, they lifted Chopper off the ground and cheered, though not with a lot of energy.

_"What's going on? Why are they so happy for me?"_ Chopper thought.

"Have you brought food for us, young boy?" one Pyramin asked, putting him down. "We've been in these mines for a long time and were fed nothing but bread and water."

"Uhhh... I don't think I have any with me... But I know there's this town or something near this place. Maybe you can go there?"

"Oh, really? Well thanks for letting us know! Perhaps you could join us for a feast?"

"I can't do that," Chopper replied with a shake of his head. "That monster took my friend, and I need to get it back!"

"Hmmmm... Well, there is a mine cart that you can use to follow that thing." Joe explained. "I don't know where it'll take you, but I'm sure it should take you somewhere else deep in the mines."

"Really?" Chopper noticed another mine cart that was left on the track. "Hey, maybe that could help me! Thanks!"

As Chopper walked over to the mine cart, Joe stopped him. "…I wish to come with you. You saved my life from that hideous creature, and I believe I should help you."

"Joe… You're too weak and battered up!" a female Pyramin walked over to Joe. "You can't go with him right now! You need to get back home and stay with your family!"

"I'm sorry, Lisa, but my friend was murdered by that Brute, and this boy saved me. I think it's right for me to get him to go after that brute. I promise that I'll come back home. I swear."

"All right… Promise me that." Lisa replied, slowly nodding to him before she left the mines with her son and the rest of the Pyramins. Once they were gone, that left only Chopper and Joe.

"OK," Joe started by jumping into the mine cart. "Get in the mine cart and we'll be on our way."

"Are you sure I can trust you?" Chopper asked.

"Don't worry, I have no intentions of harming you."

Chopper pondered for a moment, but he eventually nodded and jumped into the mine cart, which began to get moving. Luckily, there was a light that allowed them to see what was up ahead. In no time, they began to move a bit faster on it. Chopper let out a scream as the cart began to go down a steep slope. He could see a couple of other tracks that would lead out of the mines, but it didn't appear to be the right way that he needed to go.

"Settle down, kid! This is no time to be screaming on the mine cart!" Joe snapped.

"It's not my fault! I've never went on these things!" Chopper cried as the mine cart went through a tunnel and then a corkscrew, which led into a mine area with a couple of sparkling rocks and hot boiling lava below them. Joe couldn't help but fan himself due to the intense heat.

As they left the area with the lava, they were taken to another cave area. This time, there were a couple of tracks. The Tatara Brute was just up ahead.

"Huh?" the Brute turned its head to see Chopper chasing after it. "Oh, crud… That kid's still after me! But I'm still not giving up this little white thing!"

Grabbing its hammer, it turned to the lever nearby and then smashed it, preventing Chopper's mine cart from taking the pathway that the Tatara Brute was going.

"Love to stick and chat with you, but I don't have the time for the likes of you, kid!" the Brute cackled as it took the tunnel down to the right.

"Oh, no!" Chopper shrieked as he tried to turn the mine cart over to where the Brute headed, but unfortunately, that wasn't even close enough to get it to the other track.

The cart stopped when he tried to brake it. But it was already past the intersecting point.

"No… I don't believe it. I couldn't save Zero…" Chopper frowned as his head hung low. "Is this what has to happen to me again? Be alone?"

Joe felt a bit bad for Chopper and tried to comfort him. "I'm sorry that you had to lose your friend. But I have a question… How long have you seen that white creature?"

Chopper looked up at Joe. "I've only known it when I first walked into the desert..."

"Hmmmm... So that wasn't very long."

"I know, but it was the only thing I got to talk to for a while, especially after what happened to my planet..."

"Really? What happened to your planet? And where are your parents?" Joe wondered.

Chopper sighed as the mine cart began moving again. "They're...gone. Maquano destroyed the planet."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that."

"And I'm going to make sure that he gets what's coming, too!" Chopper declared.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll help bring you out of these mines. Maybe that monster's getting out of here too."

"Yeah," Chopper nodded as he tried to get the cart moving. With Joe's help, the cart began to move to the tunnel to the left. There, they had to go down another slope, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the one from before. They eventually went through a curvy track, which left Chopper gaping.

"Hang on tight, kid!" Joe clenched his teeth as he gripped onto the cart. "This might be a bumpy ride!"

The ride did indeed get bumpy, which nearly sent Chopper flying off the cart if he hadn't hanged tight. When they went into another tunnel, the mine cart began to feel a much smoother. Chopper sighed in relief and closed his eyes to relax.

Unfortunately, he was unaware of a large rock in the way, which the mine cart crashed into and sent the two flying onto the sandy ground.

"…Sand?" Joe managed to get himself up and check the grains of sand. "It looks like we're at the end of the mines from here. Look up ahead. There's the exit to this place."

As Chopper got up, he saw a light at the end of the tunnel. "Hey, you're right! I can see the light ahead! It must be daytime now!"

"Yes... And this is where I make my leave." Joe declared, getting back into the mine cart.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Chopper asked.

"I need to get back to town," Joe replied. "I have a family to take care of. I wanted to help you get out of these mines, and I feel like I've succeeded. Plus, even if I were to go against that monster, I wouldn't I stand a chance. But you, kid… I believe you have a chance. You managed to save us, and even I found it impressive. I believe that you can do it."

"Yeah… You're right!" Chopper smiled. "I think I might have a chance to get that jerk! I just hope I'm not too late..."

"If there's one place where it might be going, it could possibly be the large pyramid called Pyrin. It's the largest pyramid in the world. However… It's a bit tricky to get there. There's some quick sand that's near it."

"All right. Well, thanks!" Chopper waved goodbye as Joe got the mine craft moving again.

As soon as he was gone, Chopper turned to the light at the end of the tunnel and took a deep breath.

_"You can do this, Chopper… You have a chance of getting to that pyramid to rescue Zero before that Brute manages to get it out of here."_

In a hurry, Chopper began to make his way out of the mines.

* * *

**I didn't think that this chapter would be too long, as I was going to add the pyramid part here too. However, if I were to add that to this chapter, it'd probably make this chapter drag on for too long.  
**

**And... Honestly, this chapter wasn't so bad compared to the previous. :P  
**

**Next up: ...You'll find out for yourselves. *gets death glares from everyone***


	9. The Pyramid's a Secret Base?

Chapter 9: The Pyramid's a Secret Base?

As soon as Chopper walked out of the cave, he found himself outside again. This time, he could see more than just a barren landscape. There were a couple of hills, but he saw some cacti, some rocks and even some Rockos moving around lazily. He knew for a fact that the Brute found another way to the big pyramid that he could see in the background.

"All right, so I'm back outside," Chopper said, looking up at the pyramid, Pyrin. "So I just gotta get to that pyramid… I don't think it seems to be too tough…except with those rock guys."

Chopper took some time to stretch before he started to take off. He could see all of the sand behind him coming up because of how fast he was running. All that mattered was that he had to get to Zero before that Tartara Brute could get away.

A yellow-eyed Darkling noticed him coming toward it and two Rockos, so it attempted to stop him by shooting a yellow spell at him. Chopper action by stomping on the Darkling and took it out with one hit. While he was in the air, he fired a laser at one of the Rockos. The laser pierced through the rock monster and destroyed it with one more shot.

He turned to the other Rocko, but instead of shooting it, he decided to try something different and strike the rock monster while spinning around. Although it didn't do as much damage as a laser, it seemed a bit more enjoyable, due to the fact that he could hit it many, many times.

"This should do it!" Chopper landed a punch on the Rocko, but it ended up hurting him more than it hurt it. "Owwie! Why did I do that?!"

"Hah hah! You're too shrimpy to punch hard body!" the Rocko cackled as it grabbed Chopper and threw him into some quicksand near the area.

"Huh…? What's this?" Chopper attempted to get out of the quicksand, but using his speed didn't work. "Ack! I'm sinking!"

"That's because you're in… Uhh… What was that sinking sand called again?" the rock monster began to scratch the top of his head. "I know it's something… WAIT! It's quicksand!"

"I was just thinking the same thing..." Chopper realized.

"Uhhhhhhhhhh… Boss told me that this stuff is what we need to avoid, but I forgot what this stuff was anyway… …Wait! No! Now I forgot what this stuff is again!"

"Could you tell me how to get out of here?"

"Oh, that's easy. You just need to slowly move feet out of the sand and maybe you get out." the Rocko explained. "…Wait! Me wasn't supposed to say that! D'oh!"

"Thank you!" Chopper smiled as he slowly moved his feet out of the quicksand. He was able to jump straight out of it and bounce off the Rocko's head. "I'd help you, but you do want to hurt me and all..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ummmm... Never mind." Chopper took off once again. Some sand ended up getting in the Rocko's face, leaving it more annoyed than before. Looking back, Chopper couldn't help but feel bad for the Rocko. But he was eventually stopped when a small tornado lifted him from the air and sent him flying. "Huh?! What's this doing here?!"

He ended up falling into the sand headfirst, but he quickly pushed himself out of the sand immediately.

"Geez... That keeps happening to me..." Chopper frowned. Looking up ahead, he could see he was getting closer to the pyramid. "I better get going before that monster gets away!"

* * *

**Five minutes later-**

After a couple of minutes running, Chopper found the front entrance to the pyramid. However, it didn't look like it was accessible from where he stoof. The entrance itself was locked down tight.

"Uh oh... Don't tell me I can't get in!" Chopper tried firing a laser at the door, but it only bounced off the door and struck him instead, knocking his Laser ability away. Thankfully, he managed to inhale the yellow star bouncing around get the ability back. "All right… So if I can't get through here, then I need to find another way inside. I hope there's another way..."

Chopper looked to his left first, but all he saw was quicksand.

"I don't think that's a good idea..."

He looked to his right and noticed there were some red platforms on some quicksand. There was also a sign near him that led up to the platforms.

"What's this?" Chopper walked over to the sign and began to read the details.

_If you cannot go through the front entrance, then you must take this way to get inside. Sorry, but we keep the front entrance locked down because we don't want any intruders coming in. But most importantly… If you're Chopper, then DON'T go this way! You understand?!_

_-Tartara Noah-_

"Hey! This sounds like it'll help me!"

Chopper made a big jump onto the platform, trying his best to avoid falling into the quicksand just like before. He noticed that there were also some tornadoes in the quicksand. He thought he could use those to get to a platform far from him.

"I don't think I'm going to like making my way over there." Chopper frowned before jumping over to the tornado. It ended up carrying him over to the other platform instead of sending him flying. "I guess that works."

Afterward, he jumped onto another platform next to him. Up ahead, he could see a spinning platform with fire in the middle and also two Darklings that were patrolling around.

"So, why are we doing this, exactly?" one Darkling asked. "Do we really need to be guarding this area? It's not like we're going to be attacked…"

"Well, didn't you hear about that kid roaming the desert?" the second one asked. "Lord Maquano told us that we need to prevent the kid from getting here. Don't you EVER pay attention?"

Before they could argue, Chopper jumped on the platform in front of them, leaving the Darklings surprised.

"Whoa! You're that kid!"

"We better do what we were told to do then!"

The two Darklings both fired their yellow spells at Chopper, but he simply jumped over them and shot a laser from behind them, destroying them instantly. He then landed on the platform and waited for it to rotate over to a platform ahead.

"Boy, am I going to see these kind of things?" Chopper wondered as he jumped off the rotating platform and landed on another small platform.

Looking up, he could see a larger platform nearby, but it was being held up by a pillar. A Rocko was sitting on top of the platform, ready to fight anything that was going to come in his way.

"Hmmmmmm… Now how do I get myself up there?" Chopper pondered, but he soon noticed the pillar was a bit weak, so he tried shooting a laser at it.

It worked! The pillar broke off and the platform came down close to his level. He jumped on it and shot a laser at the Rocko, leaving it severely wounded and finished it off with one more laser.

He found another platform with a pillar holding it up, so he did the same thing as before to get himself on it. There was a Rocko there, suddenly surprised by the platform moving downward. Regardless, Chopper had sped past it and destroyed another pillar to make the next platform come down, and he jumped onto it, only to find another platform on that platform. The only problem was... There was no way of getting through - except for a doorway being blocked by very weak stone.

Chopper tried to fire a laser at the stone door, but it didn't do much except for making a hole through the stone. He frowned in disappointment, but he was suddenly struck by an explosion that knocked his Laser ability in the quicksand. When he got up and turned around, he saw a Darkling holding a bomb in its hand.

"It looks like I've weakened you to that state!" the Darkling cackled. "I think this battle should be in the bag!"

"Hey, that wasn't very nice!" Chopper frowned.

"Who ever said I was trying to be nice?!" the Darkling spat. "Now hold still! I'm going to make sure this bomb is more successful!"

Chopper noticed the size of the enemy, and an idea struck him. He decided to inhale the Darkling and see if he could swallow it. To his surprise, his did. But upon doing this, he donned a light blue floppy hat and was also holding a deadly bomb…that was about to explode.

"Wah!" Chopper cried, throw the bomb at the stone door, which caused it to blow up, along with the door being destroyed too. "Hey! I guess that that enemy came here at the right time! And I can actually eat them too!"

He rushed through the little doorway to find a spiked ball spinning around on the ground. He simply jumped over it to find another one of those stone doors. Remembering what he did before, Chopper threw the bomb at it to blow up the door to reveal a small, dark hallway with a couple of Darklings roaming around.

"OK… This might be a bit tough to get through… But I'll try." Chopper stepped back a couple of inches and then began to charge through the small hallway, knocking Darklings back to the stone door and destroying them.

Though… The results in this ended up with Chopper hitting his head in the door and leaving him dizzy and falling over on the ground.

"Ugghhhh… That wasn't the idea I was thinking of…" Chopper moaned as he got up. He pulled a bomb out and placed it right next to the stone door before quickly jumping back and watching it explode. He smiled as he rushed back into the light. However, he frowned when he saw a couple of large pillars holding up some platforms that didn't look like he could actually break. But maybe he could use them to get to a platform that wasn't high above him ahead?

Well, that was what he was suddenly feeling when he made a jump toward the first pillar and then jumped off it to land on the other. It was like he was wall jumping – except he wasn't going up the wall, but in a horizontal direction. He was surprised by this, but then he looked down at the quicksand below him.

_"Don't fall in the quicksand… " _Chopper thought as he jumped off the last pillar over to a platform with another stone door. He pulled out another bomb and placed it in front of the door. Chopper stepped back and allowed the bomb to explode to allow him to walk into a smaller room full of shade, but with an upreel handle that was hanging off of a small, floating platform.

"Huh? I wonder what this is?" Chopper grabbed a hold of the upreel handle, and it began to reel him up to a higher platform. Jumping off of it, he found himself near a couple of poles that led up to a pathway ahead. He could see an entrance to the pyramid just up ahead. "Hey... I'm almost there!"

He grabbed a hold on the first pole, but it was kind of hard to see because of the blazing sun, causing him to squint. Regardless, he jumped off the first pole and grabbed a hole of the next one over by a diagonal to his right. He adjusted his hat to prevent it from coming off as he jumped to the next pole. When Chopper jumped onto the platform, he was greeted by two Tartara Grunts.

"There he is! Get him!" the two Grunts began to fire at him with their blasters, but Chopper tossed a bomb at one of them, knocking the one to his right off of the platform and into the quicksand.

"You know, maybe you should find a way to keep this place safe so you don't fall in the- Ow!" Chopper was shot by the Grunt's blaster, knocking his Bomb ability into the quicksand. "Eep! No!"

"Now you're an easy target!" the Tartara Grunt cackled as it tried to shoot him once again, but Chopper had instantly disappeared from its sights. Looking surprised, it looked at its surroundings, only to receive a kick from behind.

"Wh-What the… How'd you get behind me…?!" the Tartara gaped.

"I don't know... These weird things just keep happening to me..." Chopper trailed, decided to hit the Grunt with a slamming kick, knocking it to the ground, defeating it. "Well, I guess that's it for them."

Chopper looked up at the pathway ahead. He noticed that if he made a turn to his left at the end of the pathway, he would be in the pyramid.

"I guess it's time to-"

He paused once he heard a couple of ships. Chopper turned around and saw a couple of Tatara Starfighters coming down and firing at him.

"Yipe!" Chopper gulped, who began to run from the ships, although they were only starting to catch up to him… Nevertheless, their shots never seemed to hit him. Chopper had made a left turn toward the pyramid, and the ships noticed him turning, so they tried to turn around, which was much more difficult for them than Chopper.

At this point, Chopper's feet began to go in a figure-8 pattern as he rushed faster toward the secret entrance. He noticed the door was slowly starting to close. However, he was able to slip right through by sliding through the door just in time. When the Tatara Starfighters came back, they noticed Chopper was no longer in sight.

_"This is Tatara Pilot #262. We've lost the target." _the Tatara Pilot announced through its communicator.

_"Copy that. Return to your positions!"_

_"Yes, sir!"_

* * *

**Inside the pyramid-**

After a long fall, Chopper found himself in a room with a swirly pathway that seemed to move slightly downward ahead. The floor and walls looked like they were connected together, due to the curve at the corners. So, basically, Chopper could actually run up the walls if he wanted to thanks to the ground. There were also lights that helped keep the room lit up, and there were strange, yellow, red and green patterns on the ground.

"Huh… So this is the pyramid?" Chopper looked down the slope before him. "Well, looks like I have some ways to go if I'm going to find that jerk… Hopefully I'm not too late."

He began to make his way down the slope. Because he was moving down, his speed started to increase. At some points, he was running on the walls because the whole pathway wasn't going straight.

"Better be careful!" Chopper said as he turned to the right. He noticed there were these floating rings with food floating in the inside. He jumped through the rings and ate the food that was in there. "Yummy! I'm glad there's some food for me!"

Chopper started to wonder why there were no enemies in here. Meh. It didn't matter anyway. He simply began to run on the wall to his left to make things a bit easier when it came to turning on the ground.

He noticed at the end of the hallway, there was a doorway up ahead that led up to a dash panel. Once Chopper stepped on it, it launched him out of the room and in the outside part of the pyramid, where everything around him looked a bit dark, but the walls were a brown color with a couple of pictures carved in. However, they were a bit too far from Chopper to reach (it's a big pyramid, after all).

"Whoa! This is kind of fun!" Chopper smiled as he landed on another road. This one was a bit shorter, leading up a slope and to a door that was closed shut and a large hourglass with a button on top of it. He gave it a good look, but he jumped on it, causing the hourglass to flip over. The door ahead ended up opening.

"Oh! I guess this helps me go through this door!"

He rushed through the tunnel up ahead and grabbed another upreel handle that brought him up to the roof of the small building he ran through. The center had a large torch that lit up the area. Chopper jumped off the upreel handle and took the pathway to his right to a red pole pointed horizontally. He grabbed a hold on it while he was running and found himself swinging on it. Up ahead, he could see another red pole that could help lead to another pathway ahead. After swinging around enough times, he launched himself over to the next one. He did the same thing and landed on the pathway by the hourglass. He was, however, left dizzy from the swinging.

"Ohhh... I don't feel so good..." Chopper mumbled, sitting on the ground and rubbing his eyes. When he no longer felt dazed, he finally got up and jumped on the hourglass, making the door up ahead open. Wasting no time, the boy rushed toward the door and managed to slide through before it closed. Up ahead, he saw the road was starting to move upward and then to the left. It was almost like it was some sort of U-turn. Nevertheless, Chopper built up some speed and made a U-turn to his left and was launched up in the air thanks to a dash panel. He decided to spread his arms out as he was soaring in the air for a brief moment.

Once he landed on the pathway ahead, he began to run toward a Tatara Grunt that was firing at Chopper. But, since these guys tended to rely on brute force, Chopper easily maneuvered and stomped on it to defeat it.

"Sometimes I wonder why these guys are trying to stop me…" Chopper trailed as he grabbed a hold of the ledge. He pulled himself up to a small little path leading up to two Rockos guarding another ledge. "Gee, that looks a bit high for me to jump… How am I supposed to reach up there?"

"Me hear strange voice," a Rocko said in an alerted state. The other Rocko simply sniffed loudly and stepped away from the other Rocko.

"You make bad smell?"

"No, me hear strange voice, me alerted. You need help on homework."

While the two Rockos began to argue about useless stuff, Chopper jumped on one of them and grabbed a hold of the ledge.

"Hey! Someone jump on head!" the Rocko to the left began to feel its head for anything. Luckily for Chopper, he wasn't caught due to being on the ledge above him.

_"That was close,"_ Chopper thought as he jumped onto the next ledge to find another hourglass switch. Jumping on it, he used it to reach another ledge to defeat a Darkling that was in his way. He hurried to the door, using a spring to go into a tunnel, where the door that was slowly beginning to close up ahead led.

As soon as he slid under the door, he noticed he was in a room with a pedestal, but with an empty little opening in the center of it. Right next to the door with Maquano's helmet on it was a broken switch.

"Hmmmmmm… If I put that thing on there, would this door open?" Chopper wondered, picking up the item.

When he placed it on the pedestal, the switch slowly began to make its way into the opening, making the door up ahead open up for Chopper to walk through. Now he was back in one of those tunnel rooms in the beginning of the pyramid. Only this time, he could see a rail to his left, and a pathway leading down.

"Hmmmm… Which way do I take?" Chopper poked the red and white rail a bit. "I suppose I could try using on this…if I could."

He jumped on the rail, and he found himself grinding down it. He noticed all of the sparks he left behind as he went further down.

"I hope everything's OK here," Chopper said worriedly as he passed many obstacles below him. He could even see the sky from this room, but when he got off, he ended up running into another room with a yellow ghost called a Snatcher, a pedestal, and a door.

"Uh oh… Don't tell me I have to… ACK!" Chopper felt himself being grabbed by the Snatcher from behind. "Get off of me!"

After struggling a bit, Chopper had managed to shake the ghost off him, which proceeded to disappear. He sighed and looked to his right, where there was a rail near him, which could most likely be used to get through those obstacles. He took the rail to his right and jumped off the roof of the small little building he was on top of to run up a little road that led to one of the broken little switches that he once saw before.

"Hey! It's that switch from before!" Chopper picked it up, but not before being grabbed by another Snatcher from behind. "Hey, stop!"

The Snatcher ended up letting him go, and he quickly grabbed the broken switch. Chopper looked up on two large white blocks and saw two Darklings hurling their spells directly at him. He looked at the switch for a moment, and after shrugged, he threw the broken button and destroyed one of the Darklings easily.

"Hey, it worked!"

He inhaled the spell the other Darkling fired at him and destroyed by spitting it back at it. Then he grabbed the broken button and took off down the little road and to another hourglass switch. With a simple jump, he managed to open up the door ahead through the small building he was on top of before, leading him to some speed bumpers that would bring him back to where he previously started in the room.

"And there we go!" Chopper declared. With one toss, the broken switch landed on the pedestal and went into the empty space that opened up the door to another hallway with another road that reminded him of the one he had encountered in the beginning of this place. Only this time, it seemed longer.

Right in front of him, there was another hourglass. He simply jumped on it to activate it and make a door that was possibly up ahead open. From what he could hear, it was a pretty far, but it couldn't hurt to keep moving.

While running through the narrow road, a couple of Snatchers were trying to chase after him. There was no way he was going to let them get him, so he increased his speed, allowing him to outrun those ghosts. Of course, there was still the problem with the ticking sound increasing, meaning the door was getting closer to closing.

"I need to go faster," Chopper said as he started to move a little faster, especially when he stepped on one of the speed bumpers.

At the end of the hallway, he saw the door was getting nearly close to closing, but Chopper managed to slide under before that could happen. Some of the Snatchers stopped right at the closed door and frowned.

"Whew… That was a bit close…" Chopper sighed, looking at the closed door before him.

When he turned around, he saw another hourglass switch in front of him and a door up ahead at the end of the road. With a simple stomp, the door opened, and he quickly raced through a couple of doors and used the dash panel to go up to a couple of loops.

Chopper smiled upon seeing the road, and he ran through both loops and jumped off another dash panel. He was led over to a platform with a spring to the left and some large blocks that didn't appear to look breakable. But there was a yellow ? block right by him.

"Hey, what's this?" Chopper struck the block and saw a Fire Flower pop out. "Hey, I could really use this."

He grabbed the Fire Flower, making his gloves change to a red color before using the spring to get over the blocks. A Tartara Grunt was blocking the way up a grinding rail up ahead, but with a simple fireball, Chopper managed to defeat it easily. He then took the grinding rail over the large gap and tossed a fireball at the hourglass switch without even having to stop to go up a slightly upward path to a door. He didn't even have to slide!

But, right up ahead, there were two more loops. Without hesitation, Chopper ran through the first loop easily and then allowed the speed bumpers to let him run through the next one before jumping off the last dash panel. He noticed up ahead were a bunch of lights right by the cave. The lights seemed to look just like Maquano, to Chopper's dismay. But there were also ones of a strange rock monster.

As soon as Chopper landed on the ground, he saw a little tunnel up ahead. Up at the end was a large door. This had another picture of Maquano on it, which began to annoy him when he approached it.

"I don't like seeing Maquano on these doors," Chopper frowned. "It makes me madder thinking about him!"

He clenched his fists, his anger getting greater at the thought of what he did. However, he had noticed some sort of dark mist around his hands, which caused his anger to suddenly stop.

"Huh? What was that?" Chopper wondered, noticing the mist had gone away. "That was weird..."

Regardless of that, Chopper took a look at the door and noticed a panel of a hand on it. He placed his hand, but it didn't seem to match. It looked more like a Tartara's hand. Lucky for him, he could hear a Tatara coming his way. A Tartara Grunt, to be exact.

"Uh oh..." Chopper trailed, seeing that the Tartara Grunt had spotted him.

"What the… Hey! You're not supposed to be here!" the Tatara Grunt reached for it blaster and ducked, but Chopper had ducked and chucked a fireball, which ended up knocking out the Grunt. He was surprised at first, but then he remembered the panel on the door.

"I hope this works..." Chopper dragged the unconscious Tatara over to the door and placed its hand on the little hand panel. It triggered the door to open into the center of the pyramid, where he could see a bridge leading up to a Tatara Starship up ahead.

Right by the side was a mine cart, along with a familiar face.

"Hey... I'm not too late!" Chopper smiled, running for the ship when he spotted the Tartara Brute.

Meanwhile, the Brute was grinning upon reaching the ship, but when it turned around, it instantly gaped when it saw Chopper running toward its way.

"WHAT?! How on earth did you get here so easily?!" the Tatara Brute gasped, but its expression turned to a grin. "…No matter. You're too late! I've already made it to this starship!"

"You WON'T be leaving this place with my friend!" Chopper shouted, ready to shoot a fireball at the Brute. However, the monster grinned as it held Zero up, making Chopper stop.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you! If you hit me, you might as well kiss your little friend goodbye!"

"Oh, no... I wouldn't like that..."

"Me neither," the Tartara Brute wasted no time and stepped into its starfighter and started it. The ship flew up in the air, while the top of the pyramid opened up. But before taking off, the guns aimed at Chopper. "So long, kid! I'll make sure Lord Maquano gives me a greater reward when I destroy you!"

The Tatara Brute pressed a button on the ship to fire some lasers at Chopper. Even though they missed, the bridge he was on started to shake. This had nearly left him off balance as well.

"Uh oh… This isn't good." Chopper gulped, noticing the bridge was starting to collapse.

The bridge ended up splitting in half, making Chopper fall down the abyss. The last thing the Tatara Brute could hear before leaving the pyramid was Chopper's loud scream.

"Now, let's get you to my leader!" the Tatara grinned, looking down at a nervous Zero that was now trapped in a force field cage. "I think Lord Maquano will know just what to do with you!"

And with that, the ship took off to another continent on Clara.

* * *

**Bottom of the pyramid-**

Chopper slowly opened his eyes and noticed he was still alive. Near him, he spotted some sand falling. Looking above him, all he could see was pitch blackness.

"What the... Where am I? And what happened?"

He slowly got up and noticed he was standing on a platform in some yellow quicksand. Chopper was still a bit drowsy after what happened before landing here, but he did see on the wall some brick ground like the platform he was on.

"Wait… I remember what happened! I was trying to rescue Zero…but that jerk ended up getting away." Chopper realized, looking down at the ground in sadness. "I can't believe I couldn't save him..."

"Ahh... So this is where you are!"

Hearing the voice, Chopper turned around, seeing a figure facing him. A familiar one, to be exact.

"It's been a while since we've met," Nazado smirked. "Surprised to see me?"

"Ummmmm... Who are you again?" Chopper wondered. "I don't remember your name..."

"_**ARE YOU SERIOUS?!**_" the master shape-shifter exclaimed, suddenly growing huge in size, making Chopper shrink for a couple of seconds. "How could you forget about me?! Nazado?! The Master of Disguise?!"

"Oh... You!" the boy realized, giving him a glare. "You're that jerk who attacked me back near my house! What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Nazado waved his wand around and aimed it at Chopper. "I'm here to destroy you! After I lost to you last time, I made a new plan to get back at you! And now, right where we stand… This will be your grave!"

"A grave? What's that?"

"Errrr… You know, the place you... Actually, who really cares?" Nazado sweat dropped.

"Why? I want to know..."

"An idiot like you would probably not understand."

"Hey! Don't be so mean!" Chopper snapped, giving him a glare.

"I'm the bad guy here! Of course I can be mean! Which means I can do THIS!" Nazado waved his wand and fired a purple spell toward Chopper. To his dismay, the attack had missed due to Chopper avoiding it, but on the plus side, he had landed in the quicksand. "HA! Now you're trapped in there!"

"Wait… What?" Chopper gawked. "Oh, no... Not this again!"

"What's funny is that you didn't even see it coming! …Ah, well. Might as well finish you off."

"No! I don't want that!" Chopper grabbed a hold of the edge of the platform and pulled himself up. Once he threw a fireball at Nazado, he began to burst into flames.

"Ack! What on earth did you just do?!" Nazado exclaimed.

"I hit you with a fireball…" Chopper trailed as Nazado used his shape-shifting skills to transform into a giant fist that squashed Chopper easily. But, he managed to get himself up and stomp on the fist to turn him back to normal, resorting in him stomping on Nazado's head as well.

"Why you little! Quit it!" Nazado changed into a hammer and whacked Chopper in the face, leaving a bruise. But when he tried to hit him again, Chopper used a kick, but with a flaming glow on his feet, which not even he expected.

"Hey... I never knew I could do that." Chopper gaped as the wooden hammer Nazado was was set on fire, forcing him to change back into himself. Nevertheless, he managed to hit Chopper with one of his spells, but it didn't get rid of his Fire Flower ability.

_"If I could just get that Fire Flower ability off him, then I might be successful in winning this fight!" _Nazado thought while firing another spell, only to have it get destroyed by one of Chopper's fireballs. He ran up close to the shape-shifter and punched him in the face with a flaming punch, which he liked doing as well. "Ack! It burns!"

Nazado transformed into a raindrop and then turned back into himself to get rid of the burning flames. He struck Chopper with one of his magic attacks, knocking him back toward the wall.

However, Chopper managed to grab a pole that was sticking up in the quicksand and began to throw fireballs at Nazado. The shape-shifter quickly dodged the fireballs and whipped up another spell. However, that one was countered by another fireball.

"Face it, kid! I'm stronger that you. You better give up now, when you can." Nazado suggested.

"No way! I'm not going to lose!" Chopper jumped off the pole and knocked Nazado to the ground with a slamming kick. He even managed to knock his wand into the quicksand.

"My wand!" the shape-shifter jumped into the quicksand and grabbed his wand. He then turned into a rope and got himself out of the quicksand and onto the platform to face Chopper. "Obviously we're not getting anywhere… Perhaps we can change things up a bit!"

"What do you mean?" Chopper gawked, noticing Nazado put his wand away and change into an anvil. "Wh-What's that?!"

"This is what will be your doom!" Nazado laughed, attempting to smash Chopper, who jumped out of the way in time. However, the platform they were standing on began to crack because of the weight.

"Uh oh... I don't like this..."

"Ha HA! Now I've got you!"

Each time Nazado struck the ground, it became less sturdy. This eventually led Chopper to grab one of the poles. Nazado had decided to go over to Chopper to crush him, but he quickly jumped back onto the platform, causing the Master of Disguise to drop in the quicksand. He transformed back into himself and struggled to get out.

"How dare you trap me in this quicksand?!" Nazado yelled. "You're going to pay for this! You hear me?!"

"That wasn't even my plan..." Chopper giggled.

"I'm going to destroy you!" Nazado tried to cast a spell, but Chopper managed to inhale his wand and spit it away into the quicksand away from him. "Sorry, but I can't let you try to use your spells on me… It's not good."

"Then… You're going to leave me here?!"

"Well... I guess there's not much I can do..." Chopper trailed, jumping on top of Nazado and bouncing off his head to grab a hold of the pole. He then jumped over to the exit and sighed.

In anger, Nazado had turned into a slingshot and fired a rock at him. This had knocked Chopper over, making him lose his Fire Flower ability. He looked back at the shape-shifter in disdain, but he decided to sprint out of the pyramid before he could make another move.

* * *

**Outside-**

As soon as Chopper set foot outside of the pyramid, he noticed he was at the lower section and not the upper. But he was already on the other side of Pyrin. He could see up ahead, past a couple of small sand tornadoes, there was a castle. One that reminded him of Trinado's Castle. Only, it was a bit bigger in size.

"Well… I guess I'm not too far from the castle…" Chopper began to take a couple of steps, being careful of the tornadoes. Apparently they had faces, and boy, did they want to go after Chopper.

But, instead of walking, Chopper decided that it would be best to run off at full speed toward the castle.

"Hang on, Power Star Piece… I'm coming to get you!"

* * *

**Whew! Now this was one heck of a chapter! ...And if you couldn't tell, I was thinking of Sonic Adventure 2 when writing this, if you couldn't tell. ;)**

**So... We got another chapter in the desert and then we have a boss. Hmmmmm... Well that sounds nice! ...Considering that this place isn't exactly my favorite. The next area should be a lot better.**


	10. The Castle in the Sand

Chapter 10: The Castle in the Sand

"Uh oh… This isn't good!" Chopper's feet were practically moving in a figure-8 pattern as he was being chased by a couple of Tataras riding some skiffs. They were firing at him as he ran through the desert and while trying to avoid some of the sand tornadoes in his way. He could see Stoneard's Castle up ahead, and boy, did it look like those stereotypical-colored desert houses. However, unlike those houses, this was much bigger.

And what was worse was that Chopper didn't have a Fire Flower power-up with him, so all he could really do at the moment was run for his life at the laser shots being fired. Of course, since he was faster than the skiffs (thankfully), there was no way he was going to be shot.

"Don't let him get away!" the Tatara Grunt cried, firing at Chopper with the turret. "We can't let that…thing go to the castle!"

"Can't you guys just leave me alone?" Chopper asked. "I don't feel like dealing with you guys..."

"In your dreams, kid!" the Grunt growled, firing rapidly at him. Chopper managed to inhale one of the lasers and spit it back at the skiff, causing some serious damage to it. "Wha…? What the heck's going on here?!"

"Apparently we're going to crash. This thing's been damaged badly…" another Grunt trailed as the skiff began to stop and crash into the sand. Chopper turned away from them and continued to run.

…But then he got caught in a sand tornado.

"Eek!" Chopper cried as he began to flying in the air. He ended up spreading his arms out so it would make things easier for him. What was nice was when he began to spin around as well, which helped him slowly descend onward. Well, until he got stuck in the sand for the umpteenth time. It took him some time, but he managed to pull himself out.

Afterward, he continued to travel toward the castle with nothing else to worry about, except for a couple of other sand tornadoes.

While he did that, a familiar figure had stood at the top of a sandy hill in the distance and watched Chopper travel to the castle.

"Impressive speed," the figure remarked, seeing the dust left behind by Chopper. "It is remarkable that he had managed to defeat Trinado and get a hold of the first Power Star Piece. But he still needs to learn much more about that power before he can succeed."

He turned away and went down the opposite side of the hill, his cape blowing upward as he slide down.

_"Perhaps it will be time for Chopper to finally meet me and know the truth about that heart..."_

* * *

**Castle entrance-**

After a couple of minutes, Chopper finally reached the entrance of the desert castle. It appeared to be a tan color, but it didn't seem too interesting other than that.

"Well… I guess it's better than Trinado's Castle…" Chopper commented as he took a couple of steps to the door. "Although… I haven't been enjoying this desert trip. Kind of sandy."

He tried to push the door open, but it didn't seem to budge. Chopper sighed and decided to find another way through the castle. But before he could try anything else, he saw a dark portal appear above the sky, near the castle.

"Uh oh… This isn't good…" Chopper found a rock and hid behind it. Two Tatara Soldiers flew down to the sandy ground with their dragon-like wings. They landed on the ground and walked up to the door.

"All right, so we simply need to deliver the supplies to Stoneard, is that correct?" the first soldier asked.

"Yes, genius. That's what we planned on doing this whole time…" the second soldier groaned.

"So… What's in that bag anyway?" the first Tatara decided to check what was in the bag. "Wait… Why the heck are there rocks in this thing?! Does Stoneard just love to eat rocks?!"

"Uhhhhh… Yeah, he does. That's why he's a rock. He eats rocks. …Or in his case… 'Stoneard be made of hard stone!'"

_"Wow__… So t__hese__ guys __sure__ know__ some__ stuff __about__ this__ Stoneard__ person__…__"_ Chopper thought as he took a peek above the rock.

"You know… Those Rockos eating rocks kind of remind me of those Goron creatures from this other world…" the first Tatara recalled. "Apparently they love to eat rocks as well, but they can't stand monsters - kind of like us!"

"Oh… Well who cares about them? We're cooler than them anyway." the second Tatara grabbed one of the rocks and looked at it. "Say… I wonder what these things taste like!"

The monster took a bite through one, but instead of chomping it down easily, a small tear came down its face.

"_Mommy__…_"

"That sounded like it hurt," Chopper remarked, noticing the broken tooth on the Tartara, who now had its hand over its mouth.

"Dude… You really shouldn't have done that…" the first Tartara Soldier groaned.

"But I wanted to...ow...know what eating a rock was like..."

"Yeah... Well, anyway, I think we should go inside."

The first Tatara walked up to the door and knocked on it. There was a little opening where someone's eyes could be seen. A Rocko happened to be the one behind the wall.

"Password?"

"Password."

"OK, you're in."

The door opened and the two Tataras entered the castle. Chopper, who had overheard everything, was pleasantly surprised by this outcome

"Wow… That sounds easy!" Chopper smiled, stepping away from the rock and walking up to the door. He knocked on it a few times before the same Rocko behind the door appeared in the small opening.

"Password?"

"Ummmm... Password?"

"OK, you're in," When the door opened, the Rocko saw Chopper simply walk into the castle with no question. "Hey, wait a second… You're that-"

Chopper got the Rocko to be quiet by inhaling it and taking its power (a.k.a. the Stone ability). With it, he saw there were two ways to go. There was a door dead ahead and a door to his right. The door ahead seemed to be blocked, so he had no other choice but to head through the door to his right.

There wasn't much in this old, tan room, but there happened to be two Darklings guarding a stump. He shrugged and squashed them by turning into a statue of a Darkling. Once they were gone, he crushed the stump as a statue of Trinado.

"Man… Why am I seeing so many statues of other people or things?" Chopper questioned himself as he turned back into himself. "Well, I wonder what that did..."

When Chopper returned to the previous room, the blocked door was no longer blocked. Smiling, he headed through into another small room, but this one had a hole heading underground. Chopper took a look down and noticed a large cave below before jumping in. There happened to be water in the cave, but instead of landing in that, he landed on a narrow stone cylinder-like bridge. It was rather long, so it allowed him to run fast on it and over to a dash panel leading to another piece of the path.

"This place is...a bit cool?" Chopper remarked.

His feet began to move in a figure-8 pattern because the cave was so long, allowing him to move a lot faster. He was quite happy that there weren't any enemies around here, or else he would be in some trouble.

However, he did find himself nearly falling off, but to his relief, each of those times had resulted in him stumbling back, and each time, he continued his progression.

Chopper noticed the road was starting to curve around, so he braced himself as he moved around the road like a corkscrew before hitting a spring pointing at an angle, launching him out of the cave and into a small room with a ladder leading up to the first floor of the castle.

With that, he climbed up the ladder and headed up to the first floor.

* * *

**First floor-**

Chopper climbed out of the hole and was in another tan room with stone walls and a stone ground. He had to admit, this place didn't look too interesting from the inside. Then again, Trinado's Castle wasn't the most interesting either.

"Hey! Who's there?!" one Rocko asked, it and another appearing to be arm wrestling over by a stone table. When they spotted Chopper, they were left gaping. "Ack! Intruder in this room! Me crush you!"

Chopper gulped and covered his face as he got squashed by one of the Rocko's body slam attacks. After getting up, he unflattened himself and turned his fist into stone so he could punch the Rocko into the wall, remembering what he had did to a previous Rocko with that.

As that Rocko crumbled, the other Rocko tried to roll over him. However, that didn't do much when Chopper brought his fist toward it and destroyed it. With that out of the way, he left the room by simply walking into the door up ahead.

* * *

**Top floor-**

Up on the top floor, a large, stone being was snoring. Nothing special was going on anyway, and he was very tired. His room, on the other hand was quite big. There was a large terminal in the room - which was probably the ONLY technological thing in this castle.

_"Stoneard!__ Stoneard!__ I__ demand __that __you __wake__ up!" _the terminal turned on and Maquano appeared on the monitor. _"Stoneard! __**STONEARD!**__"_

"Wh-Whuh?" Stoneard yawned and rubbed his eyes before turning his head to Maquano. He was a large, rock creature with googly-like eyes and a couple of cracks on his rocky head and fists, along with a big frown. "Stoneard was having good dream. Why do Lord Maquano ruin dream?"

_"Me not mean to ruin dream," _Maquano said, only to face palm for speaking like that._ "Enough__ about __that__ for__ now. __You __better__ be__ ready, __because __apparently__ I've__ received__ news __that __that __boy__is __invading __your __castle __at__ this__ very__ moment."_

"Stoneard is confused," the rock monster scratched the back of his head. "You talking to Stoneard?"

_"Yes, I'm talking to you. I'm telling you there's someone here who's trying to steal that Power Star Piece you hold. He's already got the first one, and I don't want him getting any more!"_

"Oh… Stoneard understand now. Stoneard SMASH intruder!" Stoneard growled, slamming his fists into the ground, making the room shake a bit.

_"Yes,__ I__ want__ you__ to __smash__ that__ boy,"_ Maquano demanded. _"However,__ you__ must __be__ careful__ with __him.__ Apparently __he's __a __fast __one.__ You__ may __have __all__ of__ that __strength __in__ you, __but__ you're __slow __as__ molasses.__ You__ better __have __a__ plan __ready."_

"...Stoneard suddenly forgot what you said," Stoneard said upon blinking.

_"...I seriously wish you had a bigger brain."_

* * *

**First floor-**

"All right, this room is a bit…"

Right before Chopper could finish his sentence, he tripped and fell over on the ground. Two Darklings happened to notice him tripping and quickly flew toward him.

"Ha! What a trick that was!" the first Darkling laughed.

"I've gotta give that a ten! ...On stupid!" the second Darkling agreed.

"Ow... I hate it when this stuff happens..." Chopper groaned as he slowly got up before getting hit in the face by some spells thrown by the Darklings. "Hey, stop that!"

"Make us," the first Darkling replied before getting knocked into the wall by Chopper's Stone Punch. The other Darkling simply looked at him in surprise and tried to quickly attack, but Chopper ended up jumping on it instead.

"That takes care of them," Chopper said before he opened the door into a large outside area of the castle. In the center, there happened to be quicksand. Some kind of weird, monstrous sand worm was settling down there, ready to attack anything in its sight.

When he looked at the sand worm, it was revealed to be a Tatara Worm. It had a large jaw capable of swallowing a whole Rocko! It could also spit some kind of poison as well. But what was nice was that its weak spot was actually its mouth.

"That thing looks freaky," Chopper commented, watching the Tatara Worm burrow into the quicksand. "This area doesn't look like it'll be fun to go through..."

Not only that, but a couple of Rockos were patrolling the outer part of the area too. There didn't appear to be quicksand on the stone platforms they were on, but that didn't mean the whole outer frame of the area had no quicksand… Some sections did require some jumping.

"Which way to go…?" Chopper pondered, seeing the Tatara Worm rise from the sand in front of him. It tried spitting poison at him, but he turned into a statue of Maquano to prevent himself from being poisoned. "I don't know how I can hurt this thing… Maybe I should spit its attack back at it?"

Chopper removed his Stone ability and inhaled that poison spat at him next. He spat it back at the Tatara Worm when its mouth opened and caused it to scream in pain. With that, he jumped toward it and kicked it in the eye, making it fall over on the ground in defeat.

"I...guess it's defeated?"

He ignored it for now, since there was no way of it getting up at the moment. Chopper took the way to the left and found a Rocko standing there, giving off that same, stupid expression. He simply jumped over the Rocko without getting hit and jumped over to the door ahead. Unfortunately, there appeared to be something blocking the way. A stone block, to be exact.

"Wait a second… I can't break this?" Chopper frowned as he tried to kick and punch it. He was only hurting his fists from this. "OW! This isn't working!"

As he winced and let a small tear come down his face, the Tatara Worm was able to get up and let out a huge roar as it burrowed deep in the quicksand. Meanwhile, Chopper decided to inhale the Rocko near him with all his strength and spat it at the stone block. Even then, it didn't do a thing. At this point, he needed to think.

"What could smash a block like that?"

As he pondered, he noticed that in the center of the quicksand, there happened to be some sort of weapon. It looked like a wooden hammer with a yellow star on the face of the hammer. It didn't look very useful, but it was better than nothing.

"How am I supposed to get that when it's in the quicksand?" Chopper wondered. Suddenly, an idea struck him. He opened his mouth and used his inhaling ability to get the hammer out of the quicksand instead.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't come out

"_Huff__… __Cough__… _I can't do it… It's too much for me…"

He noticed the Tatara Worm pop out of the sand and attempt to bite him. Luckily, he managed to move out of the way just in time and give it a good kick to the side of its face to leave it stunned.

"Hey! That gives me an idea!" Chopper jumped on top of the worm and used it as some sort of small road to reach over to the hammer. Since it was close to the center, he managed to pull it out and jump back onto the ground. "I hope this works..."

The four year old dropped the hammer into his mouth and ate it whole. When he opened his eyes, he noticed thay he didn't have any hat on him. All he could see was a hammer.

"What? This is it? That stinks..."

He heard another sound and happened to notice the Tatara Worm getting back up. It was about to attack, but Chopper decided to put his hammer to use and bashed it, defeating it for good this time. With that, he walked over to the stone block and smashed it.

"Wow! I can't believe this thing is so powerful!" Chopper gaped. "I wonder what else this thing can do..."

He entered through the door and happened to find some stairs going up. He smashed the Rocko and Darkling in his way and climbed up the stairs due to them being a bit too tall for him to walk up, leading him to complain about them.

After climbing to the top, he kicked the stone door open to another room. Unlike that one room with the worm, this was inside. There happened to be a couple of poles that were sticking out of the quicksand down below, and he could even see a pole stretching across the walls near a small path near the quicksand.

Chopper took a deep breath and used his speed to jump from pole to pole. To be a little stylish, he tried spinning on them to the small stone pathway.

Unfortunately, this didn't turn out good for him when he felt a little dizzy, which nearly made him fall into the quicksand, but he managed to grab the pole just in time. After quickly shaking his head, he swung himself over to a stone block blocking the door. With his hammer, he smashed it with no problem.

Upon entering the next room, Chopper saw that it was a simple hallway with two Rockos patrolling. What was also interesting was when he saw the two Tataras from before heading over to the door ahead.

"All right, man. When we deliver these rocks, we'll go find a stupid dentist and get your teeth fixed." the first Tatara assured as the other was still covering its mouth in pain. "You think you can hang in there?"

"I hope so…" the second Tatara moaned. "Why did I have to eat that dumb rock? In fact, why do they like rocks?"

"Well Stoneard's…not the smartest bulb out there. Although, despite lacking much of a brain, he does seem to have some great strength. …But he's slow. Rocks help him get stronger."

"Oh… Well, can we just deliver these already?"

"Yeah, we should. We're not too far anyway."

After heading through the door, Chopper readied his hammer as one of the Rockos spotted him and began to roll toward him like a bowling ball.

"Take this!" Chopper cried out as he spun his hammer around and hit the Rocko dead-on. He managed to send it flying across the room and right into the other Rocko, making them both crumble right in front of him. Smiling, he ran to the door ahead and headed into another room with a staircase. This one, however, seemed to be more of a spiral staircase than a normal one.

Shrugging, he began to run up the spiral staircase with ease until he reached the third floor. There was no door leading into another hallway. There was just one long little road with a couple of gray Rockos. Their faces looked more grim than the normal, brown Rockos, however.

"I don't like the looks of these guys…" Chopper trailed while he watched them patrol the area.

"What? Me smell something!" the Grim Rocko looked over at Chopper. "Me find intruder! Crush intruder!"

It curled up in a ball and began to roll its way toward Chopper. However, he was ready to fight back, whipping his hammer out and smashing it with one swing. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough when the Grim Rocko managed to crush Chopper as flat as a pancake with its fists.

"Ack! Not this again!"

"Ho ho ho ho! Now you feel pain!"

Chopper managed to unflatten himself…somehow…and stomped on the Grim Rocko's head. With one little kick, he was able to leave it stunned for a couple of seconds. He quickly finished it off by smashing it with his hammer.

"Phew... That was close."

Although there were a lot of Darklings and Grim Rockos up ahead, Chopper struck a yellow ? block and made a Star pop out. When he grabbed a hold of it, he began to sparkle.

"Hey, it's just like that thing I found in the other castle!" Chopper gaped. "I think I can easily get through here!"

He began to run at incredible speeds through the hallway, destroying everything in his sight. Not even the powerful Grim Rockos were able to withstand this.

After reaching the end of the hallway, his invincibility wore out, to his dismay. However, it wasn't going to stop him from moving on. Upon entering the next room, he saw two moving platforms popping out of the wall in the hallway and a bottomless pit down below.

"I wonder where that goes down..." Chopper wondered as he jumped across the platforms. "But I don't think I want to jump down there..."

There wasn't much else in this room, unfortunately, so he moved on to a room that was pretty dark. He couldn't find his way around, but he did see a stone block near him. After smashing it, he didn't find anything inside except for a lantern. It had a little light, but probably not enough for the whole castle. So, he simply picked it up and decided to see what was around him. There was quicksand on the stone floor, so he had to be extra cautious around here.

"Hmmmm…. Nothing special around here." Chopper sped through the quicksand and reached the end of the room. It wasn't a big room, but the door was sealed. But what he didn't see before were two unlit torches. So, using the lantern, he lit up the two torches and opened the door. "I hope this leads to somewhere interesting..."

This next room was apparently more of a place where people played board games or games like chess. However, these Rockos that were sitting at the stone tables were playing something a little different. It had to do something with rocks and…more rocks. Just about everything involved rocks. And do you wanna know what the name of the game was?

Rock.

"Me will give you two rocks for big rock," a Rocko said, holding two small rocks in its large hand. "Rocks are combined into big rock like yours. Will you give rocks or no?"

"Rock good. Rock good." the second Rocko responded. "You give rocks, I give big rock. Me have rocks that are edible."

The two Rockos handed over their rocks, but the one who received the smaller rocks noticed they were fake. Soon enough, the one who received the fake ones punched the other in the face, and a brawl commenced.

"You give fake rocks! Now me crush you!"

Not only did the two Rockos fight, but all of the other Rockos in the room began to join in. Some were punching, some were ramming into each other with their heads, but probably the dumbest one was the slap fights. Only two of them were getting into a slap fight, though.

"Me get cheated in game!" the second Rocko growled, pinning the first Rocko to the ground and punching it as many times as it can. "Now me crush you with fists! You be crushed into tiny pieces!"

"Over me dead body!" the first Rocko responded, punching the other in the face and getting up. It grabbed a rock and tried to bash it at the second Rocko, but it simply ate it with no problem and attacked the first Rocko with an uppercut punch.

However, they all paused when a certain pale green boy walked into the room with an innocent look on his face, as if he didn't know what was going on.

"Ummmmmm… Why are you guys fighting?" Chopper asked.

The Rockos looked at each other as they got up, but they didn't seem to give him any threatening looks. Chopper thought things would be all right for him…

…Until he heard something echoing through the room.

_"Stoneard__ must__ speak __to__ Rockos __at __the __moment,"_ All of the Rockos listened carefully, as well as Chopper. _"Lord__ Maquano __tell __Stoneard__ that__ some__ boy __is__ roaming__ the __castle.__ He __be__ pale __green__ with__ two __antennas. __If__ you __find__ boy,__ Stoneard__ reward __you__ greatly __with__ rocks."_

However, due to the Rockos being rather…dumb, they looked confused as they looked at Chopper. It was as if they suddenly forgot what Stoneard just said a minute ago. To Chopper, this was good.

"Don't you idiots know ANYTHING?!" Two yellow Darklings flew over to Chopper and grabbed a hold of his arms. "THIS is the boy that Stoneard was taking about! Don't just stand there! GET HIM!"

"W-Wait! Why are you guys teaming up on me?" Chopper cried, giving them all a sad look. "I've gone through enough already! Can't you give me a break?"

"Oh, great… Enough with the innocence already! Ever since you defeated Trinado, we know you're an issue. You already have one of the Power Star Pieces."

"Yeah, now finish this kid off, Rockos!"

Chopper blinked for a moment, and he gained a serious look as he swung himself around while his arms were still being held by the Darklings and launched himself across the room. He landed on one of the Rockos, but he was able to bounce off each of their heads to a platform that was up on the wall. He looked at where he stood and then down at the Darklings.

"Wait... That thing happened again?" Chopper gawked, feeling disappointed. "I wish I could do that all on my own..."

"Boy too high for us," one Rocko said, trying to jump for Chopper. "We don't have strength to jump. Me too heavy."

"Ugh… Looks like we have to do the work." the first Darkling face palmed as it flew toward Chopper. However, the young boy was prepared. He whipped his hammer out and bashed the Darkling head on. The other Darkling hurled a yellow spell, but Chopper jumped and defeated it with one single hammer swing.

"Well, I guess I should just get away from these…" Chopper stopped when he felt the platform he was on shake. Apparently the Rockos were trying to knock him down, not looking too happy.

"If you don't come down, then me make you!" a Rocko growled, trying to ram into the wall.

Chopper looked for another platform in sight, but he did see something else on the ceiling. It was a made a large jump to a pole on the wall. He swung himself up to the chandelier afterward and tried to make it fall. But, his hands couldn't pull it down. Instead, he decided to smash it with his hammer, which was apparently made of stone. With that, it started to fall.

"Me see something coming down," one Rocko said as the chandelier crushed all of the Rockos in the room, and only one person remained in the room. Chopper himself was covered in dirt and some small bruises. Despite the small injury, he was all right, although he felt himself get somewhat teary from the pain.

To his surprise, he also saw a hole in the ceiling, causing the tears to suddenly go away. A pole was sticking out from there, but with the chandelier gone, it might be a little difficult to reach it. Thankfully, there was still that pole to get up there. Chopper grabbed a hold of the pole on the wall and swung himself up to the other one to grab a hold of it.

"Wow… So that rainbow heart really is helping me with stuff like this…" Chopper remarked. "But I wish I could fly…"

He climbed up the pole and went through the ceiling. What surprised him was when it took him into a small room on the fourth floor.

"Wait… Is this the top floor?" Chopper wondered, smashing a block near him to reveal another hallway. The windows happened to show the vast desert. He could even see the pyramid off in the distance. "I've gone pretty far… But I'm not turning back now."

Chopper saw two Grim Rockos blocking the way to the door ahead. He simply made a dash toward them, not even holding back. This caused him to ram into the Grim Rockos with his hammer and make them fall over, turning into smithereens. Chopper stopped in front of the door and pulled it to find another hallway. This time it had platforms sticking on the wall and a pit with spikes down below.

And what was also surprising was the two Tataras from before were heading over to the door ahead. The door that led over to Stoneard's room.

"All right, Larry! Soon we'll be at Stoneard's room, and then we'll be able to deliver these rocks once and for all!" the Tatara Soldier smiled. "You ready to get the heck out of here after this?"

"I sure want to," Larry responded, still holding its mouth in pain. "Stupid rock... It just had to ruin my teeth. It's never been this bad like that time I bit a jawbreaker!"

"Ummmmm… Yeah. Cool story, bro. Let's just go already."

They thought things would get better for them. That was… Until Chopper crossed the pit of spikes and got right behind them.

"Stop right there!" Chopper cried, pulling his hammer out.

"Wait… What?" the soldier turned around to see Chopper facing them. "Wait a second… You're the one Lord Maquano's been talking about? But... You're just a little kid!"

"Well, I'm here to get that Power Star Piece from the big bad guy here!" Chopper declared.

"Well we need to deliver rocks! And we're not letting you get the Power Star Piece!" Larry growled, drawing its blaster and firing. Chopper got knocked away by the blast, but he slowly got himself up and dodged the next blast fired at him.

"Whoa… This kid's fast…" the Tatara gaped as it got rammed by Chopper, followed by being bashed in the head by his hammer. "What the heck are you?"

"Well... My name is Chopper..." Chopper trailed. "I won't hurt you guys anymore if you let me through. It would be a lot-"

A shot went right above his head, which happened to come from Larry.

"You should know your…ow!…place better, kid!" Larry snarled. "Like we'd listen to you!"

"Well fine then! Be that way!"

Chopper jumped toward Larry and bashed it in the head with his hammer. He sent the Tartara flying out the window (unintentionally) with one last swing from his hammer.

"Hey! Larry could get a bigger injury from that!" the other Tatara barked, firing rapidly at Chopper. He got hit by one, but he quickly spun his hammer around and managed to send the enemy flying out the window.

"Whew! That takes care of that!" Chopper sighed, looking over at the door in front of him. "All right… Time to go in!"

Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open into the next room, hoping to get the Power Star Piece once and for all.

* * *

**Now that we reached this chapter, do you know what's coming up next? That's right! We're having a boss chapter next time! Hopefully that should be interesting to some of you guys (even though this desert place isn't really one of my favorite areas in the story...). It should be pretty interesting! ...Hopefully!**


	11. Stoneard: Hard as a Rock

Chapter 11: Stoneard: Hard as a Rock

Chopper stepped into the next room, but he didn't find anything around him. All there was was a door up ahead in the same form as the one before reaching Trinado's room. The red eyes on the black door was more than enough to creep him out. There were also no enemies in sight, which made him guess that he was done with this area. However, before going into the next room, he walked over by the window.

"Man, this desert is big," Chopper remarked with a sigh. "To be honest, I can't wait to be out of here. It's not fun around here... I'd rather be back in that mushroom house, where it's all nice and cozy."

Unfortunately, there was no way he could get back home at the moment. He was off on another continent, and surely he was hundreds of miles back from home, so what's the point of going back in the first place?

"Besides, I'm already getting to the second Power Star Piece! That's just what I need right now!" Chopper faced the door up ahead and approached it. "Well... I better get going."

With that, he pushed the door ahead into a much bigger room. There were two pillars right on the side and a large terminal at the end of the room. He noticed a large, stone-like creature standing in the room and facing him.

"Oh, uh, hi…" Chopper waved, looking up at the rock monster. "Were you waiting for me?"

"Stoneard doesn't remember anyone coming here…" Stoneard trailed. "Only thing Stoneard's waiting for is rocks! Me need ROCKS!"

"Uhhhhh… Me no have rocks." Chopper said, trying to speak in a way that Stoneard would understand, though this had failed. "Well... I'm actually here for the Power Star Piece..."

"Wha… You come for STAR?" Stoneard gaped, suddenly remembering Maquano's words. "Stoneard remember Lord Maquano's words! Stoneard CRUSH you! Stoneard crush you into a pancake!"

Stoneard stomped his way over to Chopper, raising his fists to crush him. Thankfully, Chopper got out of the way in time, but his fists caused the place to rumble.

"I-I d-don't l-like th-this!" Chopper stammered.

"Stoneard miss?!" Stoneard growled angrily. "Stoneard make you pay for dodging! Now Stoneard squash you like pancake!"

Stoneard leaped in the air and prepared to crush Chopper, but since he was too slow, the pale green boy was able to get behind him and bash him with his hammer, now knowing that they were fighting.

"OW! Stoneard's back HURTS! But… Stoneard be unbreakable!"

_"This guy sure speaks weird..."_ Chopper thought before he jumped on top of Stoneard and tried slamming his foot on his head. Surprisingly, he was able to hurt him, but it didn't do too much. "Hey, how come that didn't do much?"

"Heh heh heh! Now Stoneard crush you!" Stoneard cackled, grabbing Chopper and clasping his hands together to flatten him. He watched as Chopper began to stumble around like a pancake. He even threw him against the wall as well.

"Ouch…" Chopper grunted as he fell onto the stone ground. "Geez… This guy's really hard to fight..."

"Now Stoneard shall roll over you!" Stoneard curled up into a ball and began to roll toward Chopper. But, he was able to outrun him and even whack him with his hammer when he got at a good distance, knocking the stone creature to the wall.

"Actually... This guy isn't as tough as that Trinado person..." Chopper trailed as he readied himself to attack once more. Stoneard created two Rockos by spitting two rocks, and they charged at him. "Hey, wait a minute... Why do you need more rocks when you already have enough?"

As one of the Rockos came his way, he smashed it with ease. He smashed the other Rocko straight into Stoneard, keeping him off guard.

"Argh! Now Stoneard is ANGRY!" Stoneard began to steam as he jumped in the air and squished Chopper with ease. When he got off, he peeled him off the floor and threw him to the wall.

Chopper was able to push himself off after crashing into the wall and avoid Stoneard's punch. Even when he ran over to a distance from him, Stoneard was slow as molasses. So… He decided to use this as an advantage.

"Hey! Get back here!" the stone giant growled as Chopper ran from him. "Stoneard not done with you yet!"

Chopper jumped off the wall and performed a flip over Stoneard to dodge his attack. He whipped his hammer out and bashed Stoneard from behind.

"Take this!"

"Stoneard don't like you attacking!" the stone giant kicked Chopper away like a mere soccer ball, sending him across the large room and into one of the pillars. When he slowly opened his eyes, he saw Stoneard getting into a ball and rolling toward him. Chopper was about to run off, but Stoneard had ended up getting to him first and leaving him flat again.

Eventually he got off Chopper and began to perform some stupid dances, as if he was victorious. However, it didn't come to be when Chopper slowly got back up and striking his hammer on the stone giant's head. However, the boy ended up getting knocked into the same pillar. This time, it broke, which wasn't good.

"I don't think that was a good idea..." Chopper trailed.

"Then let Stoneard show you the way out!" Stoneard picked up Chopper and brought him over to the window. He was about to throw him out until Chopper (unintentionally) coughed in his face. "Hey! Stop that! Stoneard hate that sound!"

Chopper was pleasantly surprised, as Stoneard's grip loosened. This gave him the opportunity to swing his hammer as hard as he could, making him release him and sending the rock giant to the wall.

"Argh... Stoneard won't let you win!" Stoneard growled as he stood up and spat more rocks at Chopper, who began to roll from side to side to avoid the rocks. There was one that hit the wall, but when he tried picking it up to throw, he couldn't lift it off of the ground.

"Gwar har har har har! What's the matter? You can't pick up big rock?!" Stoneard grinned while crossing his arms. "How about Stoneard help you!"

_"Uh oh… I gotta think of something…"_ Chopper thought as he gripped his hammer. When he saw another rock coming his way, he decided to try something different out. He swung his hammer at the rock, which surprisingly went back toward Stoneard and hit him in the face, making him fall over. Seeing this as his chance, he rushed toward Stoneard and swung his hammer downward to hurt him. It left Stoneard a crack in his body, but it didn't stop him from swatting him away.

"Now Stoneard is ANGRY!" Stoneard growled, stomping toward Chopper and jumping on top of him, leaving him flat like before. "HA! Now Stoneard make you a cushion!"

"Hey! Get off!" Chopper unflattened himself and jumped back as Stoneard tried to sit on him. Instead, Stoneard jumped and stomped on the ground to create a powerful shockwave that sent Chopper to the wall...again. "Can't you do something else, please?"

"Stoneard crush you with THIS!" Stoneard brought his fist back and attempted to punch him. Luckily, Chopper jumped out of the way and made him trip with his sweeping kick attack, then he bashed his cracked head with his hammer, leaving him somewhat weaker than before.

_"I think he's almost done..."_

"Gruf… You not easy to crush as Stoneard expected…" Stoneard panted. "Stoneard thought you be easy for someone small, but you too fast for me… But Stoneard won't give up!"

"I think this would be a little easier if you just gave me the Power Star Piece already…" Chopper trailed.

"Stoneard make promise to Lord Maquano to hold onto Power Star Piece! And if you here to steal from Stoneard, then Stoneard might as well crush you and show you to Lord Maquano as pin cushion!"

"But I think he would want me destroyed..."

"Well then Stoneard destroy you instead!" Stoneard jumped in the air once again and slammed into the ground in front of Chopper. The pale green boy jumped, but Stoneard managed to grab a hold of his feet and leave him hanging upside down. "Heh heh heh! Now Stoneard got you!"

"Not if I do this!" Chopper coughed in his face again, making the stone giant drop Chopper and allow him to swing his hammer at his body. This resulted in making the cracks bigger, along with causing Stoneard to moan in pain.

_"Urgh… What make Stoneard in this pain?"_ Stoneard thought as he panted, until he looked up at Chopper's hammer. _"Wait… Stoneard see something! It look like hammer! Maybe Stoneard has to take hammer!"_

Chopper charged once again, but it only took Stoneard a big stomp to leave him stunned. He grabbed him once again and took his hammer. With that, he threw it out the window, leaving Chopper weaponless.

"Hey! I was using that!" Chopper frowned angrily.

"Har har har! Now you weaponless! Stoneard have advantage now!" Stoneard grinned before throwing Chopper against the wall. He charged once again, but Chopper used his speed to get out of the way.

_"OK, I don't have any weapon with me…"_ Chopper thought while breathing heavily behind a pillar. _"All I need to do is find some kind of weak spot. I could try hitting the cracked parts of his body! That could work!"_

He decided to leave Stoneard off guard first by running around him as fast as he could. Luckily, Stoneard was kept off guard, and it even made him dizzy enough to fall over on the ground.

"Stoneard see something fast… But Stoneard can't see…"

Chopper stopped running around and jumped on top of him. With a stronger jump, he struck him in the area where he was damaged the most. What made this better was that Stoneard was almost defeated at this point.

"Get off me!" Stoneard got up and knocked Chopper away with a punch, leaving a big, red mark on his face. This time, he didn't let this bother him - despite it being painful. Chopper simply jumped right when Stoneard tried to punch him and struck him with a slamming kick to the head.

"Urk! How are you able to hurt Stoneard without hammer?!" Stoneard gaped as his head cracked a little more.

"I think it might be because of that rainbow heart…" Chopper trailed, looking unsure. "But it doesn't matter now. It's time to end this!"

He tried to jump toward Stoneard, but he swat him toward another pillar. This one happened to break and send a part of the ceiling crumbling down. But not on Chopper.

But on Stoneard.

"…So that's the end of the fight?" Chopper gawked as he saw the sky above him. "Wow… I can't believe he ended up defeating himself..."

He got up and brushed the dirt off him, since he was covered in a lot of dirt and sand from traveling. But little did he know the rubble left from the ceiling started to move.

"Urrghh..."

Chopper turned back to the rubble to see an injured Stoneard pushing himself out of the rubble. Most of his body looked badly cracked at the moment, and he certainly looked like he could go down any moment.

"Huh? You're still up?" Chopper gasped.

"Stoneard ANGRY! If Stoneard is to be defeated, then Stoneard take you with me!" Stoneard spat one last rock at the pale green boy. Seeing it as a projectile, Chopper opened his mouth and inhaled it, leaving the rock monster to gape. "Wh-Whaaaaaa…?!"

Chopper spat the rock back at Stoneard, and with one clash, Stoneard broke into many pieces in defeat. Chopper, on the other hand, began to cough and sit down.

"I… I did it..." Chopper sighed, looking up and seeing a glowing star piece appear from all of the pieces left from Stoneard. "Hey... That's the Power Star Piece! The second one!"

Chopper ran over to the star piece (despite his condition) and grabbed a hold of it. It was at that point that the other one he had with him came out of his inventory, causing the two to react and combine.

"Wow... They're together now!" Chopper smiled, letting it float in his hand. "Though, it doesn't look like it's complete..."

He whirled over to the terminal ahead and tried to get it to turn on. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to do anything for him. It was already cracked and broken.

"What?! Oh, no! It's broken!" Chopper cried. Before he could do anything else, he heard a sound nearby. Looking up, he saw a Tartara Airship flying above the castle and landing where he was. "Eep! I gotta find someplace safe!"

* * *

**Later-**

When the airship landed in Stoneard's room, two Tatara Soldiers jumped out and began to look around the area.

"Where the heck is Stoneard?" the first soldier asked. "I mean, he SHOULD be here, shouldn't he?"

"Hmmmmmm… Guess not." the second Tatara responded, looking at the remains of Stoneard. "It looks like Stoneard's been crushed. So that's him and Trinado right now. I bet that kid did it."

"Well, where do you think he went?"

"Well, I don't know. But one thing for sure is that we can't let him reach the ocean. **Captain**** Steelfoot** has the next Power Star Piece, and his hideout is somewhere out in the ocean. There's no way we can let him get to it!"

"All right, so I guess we should warn Captain Steelfoot that Chopper could be coming his way…"

"Don't worry about him. He's a tough pirate. I doubt even Chopper could beat him! Stoneard and Trinado weren't really that tough anyway! I'm sure he'll beg for mercy against the captain!"

"I suppose you're right… Well, let's get out of here."

The two Tataras got back on the airship and took off. Little did they know that Chopper was hiding behind the airship, and he just so happened to hear the whole conversation between them!

_"So, the next Power Star Piece is somewhere in the ocean,"_ Chopper thought as the airship took off while he held onto it. _"Well, I guess I'm swimming..."  
_

When the airship left the desert area, it was now flying across the ocean. Unfortunately, for Chopper, it didn't seem like he was going to hold on.

"Eep... This thing is getting slippery!" Chopper kept a good grip, but his hands soon slowly began to slip off and led him to fall straight into the ocean. "Oh, no! Not at this time!"

He let out one last cry before he began to plummet into the seas.

* * *

**So there's your boss for you. I'd say that Stoneard is probably one of the easiest bosses. It's probably because he's slow.  
**


	12. A Change of Plans

Chapter 12: A Change of Plans

Maquano was sitting on his throne as usual, inspecting his red sword that reflected his helmet.

"I have to admit, I always liked the way my sword looked," Maquano remarked. "It just gives off this dark feeling that suits me well... And it's probably because there aren't that many red swords out there."

As he placed his sword on his back, he started to wonder about Stoneard at this point. Sure, he was strong and powerful, but he was slow and not on the smart side. Chopper was the complete opposite of him. Well, on the speed side.

He would have pondered a little longer if three ghost Pokemon had not shown up on the round floor surrounded by the lava. They were covered in dirt and sand. Gengly was even emptying his hat, which contained some quicksand that remained.

"Arrgh… Of all places, we had to be stuck in the quicksand!" Gengly exclaimed. "You two should've been ready to take him down!"

"Hold on, boss…" Ghastly started. "How did Haunting and I sink into the quicksand when we lack legs?"

"Yeah, I was thinkin' the same thing!" Haunting agreed. "Somethin' ain't right!"

"Both of you shut it! We tried to be the best bad guys out there, and we failed!" Gengly grumbled, crossing his arms while sulking. "That was the worst beating we've ever gotten lately!"

"You know I can hear everything you say," Maquano noted, making the Ghostly Trio turn to him. An apologetic look was upon their faces, but the demon didn't seem to care. "It's obviously you failed your task. Then again, I wasn't expecting you to win anyway…"

"Wait, you knew? How?"

"Because I don't believe you're put up for the job as bad guys."

"But… But… We've shown to be great bad guys! Just watch! C'mere, Haunting!"

Haunting flew over to Gengly, who jabbed two of his fingers in his eyes. The Haunter let out a scream as he covered his eyes, while Gengly began to cackle. Gengly joined in the laughter until Gengly did the same thing, making him scream in the process. Maquano could only watch with an annoyed look under his helmet.

"See? Only a real bad guy could do that!"

"You don't get it…" Maquano face palmed. "Anyone could do something like that!"

"Oh… Uhhh… We stepped on the grass when there was a sign saying 'Stay Off the Grass'!"

"You mean something any person could do? Honestly, you three should just get out of here before I have to force you to do it myself." the Ghost Trio noticed Maquano's hand reaching for his sword, which made them slowly back away. Well, until Gengly stopped and grinned.

"Wait a sec… You can't do that! We're ghosts! A sword can't go through a ghost, you know!"

"And I'm a demon, which means I have powers that not even you could handle, which includes the power my sword has. By the way… Ghosts do have weaknesses too. Do you know what kind of power is super effective against ghosts?"

Maquano opened his left hand, and a dark ball of energy materialized in it. "Hmmmm… I hear ghosts can't stand dark power… And I even carry dark power… What a coincidence!"

The Ghostly Trio's eyes widened and soon they found themselves fleeing from the demon knight. They quickly sunk into the shadows, leaving Maquano to let the dark ball materialize away so he could relax for a bit. Even still, there were voices he could still hear from the shadows.

_"Geez… Why did we have to anger him?"_

_"Why are we so bad as…well, bad guys?"_

_"Shut up, Haunting. We just need to prove him wrong!"_

_"Let's try to vandalize property!"_

_"Oh! Good idea, Ghastly! That'll be the crime of the century there!"_

Maquano tried to resist face palming, but he couldn't help it. "Using dumb crimes to impress me… Now I feel like these idiots are at the lowest of the low here."

"Lord Maquano! I bring news!" the old wizard, Camikon, arrived in the scene and flew over the lava with the help of his broomstick. Maquano quickly shifted his eyes to the wizard, eager for some news.

"Camikon! So you bring me news?"

"Mmmmmm… Yes! I do! …Though, I don't believe you will be pleased by the results. Stoneard has failed to defeat that boy, and now the second Power Star Piece is in Chopper's hands!" Camikon exclaimed. "Oh, this is unbearable! To think a boy of four years would be thwarting our plans like this! Not even in the old days were four year olds capable of doing such tasks like this! Back then they would just watch their silly cartoons and go to preschool and-"

"Camikon, I get it!" Maquano snapped, silencing the wizard. "Chopper got the second Power Star Piece. Big deal. It's not like Stoneard was my best minion anyway… He had a few…problems. Also, your speech on the old days makes no sense, because not only am I older, but I _created_ you."

"…What? You're not going to lash out at me for telling you the news? You know, the Power Star Piece is something very important…"

"Don't get me wrong. I'm pretty ticked that he got the second Power Star Piece, but at the same time, I knew this would happen. Now, if he managed to take down Captain Steelfoot, then I'm probably going to get angry. A pirate like him has had experience over the years, and since he is out in the ocean at his hideout, Chopper's chances of even approaching him are low. The hideout is out in the middle of the ocean! That would be difficult to get to if you swim!"

"But… What if he does?"

"Hmmmm… That would be a problem. Chopper himself has proven to be a bit tough for two of my minions so far, and I even heard of his acts in those mines…"

"Lord Maquano… What if we tried to…match him?" Camikon asked, giving him a grin.

"Match him?" Maquano gawked, taking the time to ponder over this. "What your saying is you want to do something that will match his skills?"

"Mmmm-hmmm! From what we gathered, he has some speed in him and can copy the abilities of others. Perhaps if he was facing someone with similar skills as him, he would have a hard time!"

"Camikon, I understand what you're coming up with, but there's no way we have something like that!"

"Yes, we don't… But what if we could make one?"

"Make one… Hmmmm… Maybe…" Maquano started to smirk. "Yes… We could always create something to match Chopper's abilities. But at the same time, we can make them surpass his! Camikon! We need to get started right now!"

Camikon gave a nod. "I'll let out Tartara Technicians get to work right away! …And by the way, Lord Maquano, expect a little someone to stop by. He has something to give you."

"What do you…" Maquano looked up ahead and saw the large door open before him. A Tartara Brute carrying a small, white thing was making his way across the circular floor and was left exhausted when finally making it to Maquano. "What do you want, Brute?"

"Huff… Huff… Lord Maquano, there is something I must show you." the Tartara Brute panted, showing him Zero, who was panicking at the sight of the demon knight.

Maquano gave Zero a look, but it only annoyed him. "This is what you have to show me?! Just some stupid white thing?! Brute, I don't accept pets! I already have one, for your information, and he is much deadlier and scary-looking as this thing!"

"That boy had this…whatever it is with him."

"So? Do you really believe I want this thing in my way? It will… Wait, hold on a moment." Maquano paused and looked at Zero a bit further. He felt a strange presence in it. "I feel something strange in this thing… It feels like something…dark."

"Dark? What do you mean, Lord Maquano?" the Tartara Brute gawked.

"I feel as though this isn't its original appearance. Someone might've cast a spell on this thing and transformed it into this…thing. Perhaps I can break that seal off this thing and revert it back to what it originally was! You never know… It could be enough to help us!"

"Nyeah heh heh heh…" Camikon snickered. "Perhaps with my magic can aid in transforming this thing back to its original appearance!"

He approached Zero, but a sword landed in front of him, causing him to recoil. "Lord Maquano! What was that for?!"

Maquano slowly got up from his throne and pull his sword out of the ground. "No, Camikon. I want you to go to those technicians and make them get to work on that project. I will personally take care of this myself!"

"But Lord Maquano… You…"

"So you basically just want me to stay here in my throne like the usual villains? And here I thought you were smarter than this."

"Well back in the old days…"

"Shut it. Get to work! That's an order!" demanded Maquano, pointing at the small Tartara. "Or else I'm going to replace you…"

"Replace me?! No no no! I will NOT tolerate that! I'll get to work right away!" Camikon declared, flying off in a snap. The demon knight could hear him mutter a few things, but it wasn't anything he cared about. Probably some typical old man talk.

Maquano turned to the Tartara Brute and took the shivering Zero away from him. "As for you… Get back to work. You're not wanted here at the moment."

"Yes, sir," the Tartara Brute nodded before making an exit. Once the door was shut, Maquano looked down at Zero with a grin.

"So… Would you like me to revert you back to the way you were?" Maquano said dementedly while Zero was sweating in fear. "Heh… Look at you! You're cowering like that when in truth, you can be something much better! I am going to grant you just that!"

The demon knight put his sword away before he teleported out of his castle, along with the cowering Zero.

* * *

**?-**

Darkness filled both the sky and ground as Maquano teleported to his destination. The air was much heavier, and compared to the castle, it was certainly a lot colder. And while the ground was dark, a light purple and yellow glow was emitting through the ground to give the place a little light, but barely.

"So… Do you like this place?" Maquano asked, looking at Zero in his hands. "This is a place I'd like to consider…home. Well, sort of. This place isn't fully complete yet, but it might take a couple of years to complete it."

Zero shuddered as it tried to jump off of Maquano's hand, but he caught it just in time. "Oh, no. You're certainly not getting away! I don't want this all to be for nothing! Now hold still…"

He began to wave his hand over Zero with the help of his dark magic. Zero noticed the darkness that was starting to envelop around itself. It let out a whimper before being fully enveloped.

Zero was completely silent at that point.

"Hmmm hmmm hmmm… Well, looks like that turned out well. A lot easier than I expected it to be." Maquano remarked, letting the darkness slowly float to the ground as it began to grow bigger. "Hmmmm… So this thing was much bigger than expected?"

With everything finished out, he prepared to teleport Zero and himself back to the castle, but he felt something strike his chest and forced him backwards. Upon looking at the dark ball, he noticed it was much bigger than before. It was around twice the size of him, actually.

"What the..." Maquano noticed a projectile firing out of the darkness in his direction. He drew his sword just in time and swung the attack away. From what he saw, the projectile was red.

Eventually he cleared the darkness away from Zero, and what he saw was a large, white spherical shaped being with a red eye glancing down at him. It seemed to shoot red projectiles around its eye at him, which he easily blocked with his sword.

"Hmmmm… So this is what you really look like… Yet, you refuse to listen to me after I brought you back to this? Then so be it…"

Maquano moved his arm back, along with his sword, which was starting to become surrounded in a dark glow. He quickly swung it a few times to fire dark blades of energy at Zero. They seemed to push it back, but it didn't stop it from firing four dark blob-like beings with a single eye in the middle and a ring of smaller orange spheres.

Zero disappeared afterward, leaving the dark beings called Dark Matter to take care of Maquano.

_"Great… That thing got away." _Maquano thought, looking up at the Dark Matters and readying his sword. _"But I suppose I'll stay for a while and finish these guys up! I can't have things like this roaming in my world!"_

With the four Dark Matters flying toward him, Maquano lunged his sword forward and attempted to stab at the four blobs. They quickly teleported behind and tried firing dark blots of energy. Sensing the projectiles, Maquano teleported above one Dark Matter and struck it with an overhead slash.

He was able to slice it in half, but upon further inspection, the Dark Matter sliced in half formed into two instead and managed to charge at Maquano. If it weren't for his cape, he probably would've been knocked back.

"So slicing these things up isn't the answer…" Maquano muttered, teleporting away from the five Dark Matters. "I'm not sure what will defeat these guys, but I have to get rid of them somehow…"

He fired a teleportation spell at the five Dark Matters and sent them out of this dark world. But despite getting rid of them, some disappointment filled his mind. Zero could have been a helpful ally against Chopper, but apparently it had other plans.

"I better get out of here. I have other matters to attend to."

With that, he teleported back to Clara.

* * *

**Looks like I can finally get back to this story after focusing on one story for almost two years. **

**Though this may have been a bit of a filler, I do believe it has a few important things in here, such as Maquano actually doing something since the first chapter. At first, I was going to let him stay at his castle for most of the interludes, but I thought it would be more interesting for the villain to go out and do something on their own...such as this.**

**With that aside, we're going into another new area in the next chapter! I believe it might be more enjoyable than a boring old desert! *shot***


	13. Ocean Beauty

Chapter 13: Ocean Beauty

Last thing Chopper remembered, he defeated the rock monster Stoneard and tried to grab a hold of a Tartara ship. Unfortunately, his grip loosened, which led him to fall into the sea.

Chopper slowly opened his eyes and noticed bubbles around him, as well as many fish swimming by. There was a lot of blue around him as well, and below him was the ocean floor. There was not much around except for a few coral reefs and clams. For some reason, he couldn't help but find it beautiful.

Reaching the surface, he noticed the Tartara ship flying off in the distance. He was unsure of where it was going, but perhaps if he followed it, he could get somewhere. There were no islands around anyway, so that was the only option.

But despite that, he couldn't help but feel annoyed.

"I can't believe I slipped!" Chopper sulked, splashing some of the water around him. "Now I have to go through this..."

He let himself sink into the water in order to swim faster. Though he was not a very fast underwater as he was on land, he was grateful he could swim. Chopper remembered his mother taking him someplace to learn how to swim with many other kids. Then again, he remembered his mother mostly helping him with a few things. His father was mostly watching anime or some manga.

_"At least mommy gave me some swimming lessons... Even if they weren't the best..." _Chopper thought, looking at his surroundings as he continued to swim. Some tall seaweed happened to appear as he swam further underwater. They were red and thick, which hindered Chopper when he touched it.

"Oh... I guess I'm going around this."

Swimming past the seaweed, he found a school of many different colored fish swimming together, almost forming the shape of a much larger fish. They seemed to be chasing after a big fish that most likely ate those kind of fish. Chopper couldn't help but leave his mouth agape.

"I never knew this is what it was like underwater..." Chopper trailed. "So many fishies..."

Below the fishes were different colored coral reefs as well. They ranged from being orange, blue and even pink. It felt like a huge spectacle for him.

However, all of the beauty was put to a stop when he noticed a harpoon being fired in his direction. Chopper gasped and managed to dodge it just in time. Up ahead he saw what appeared to be a pirate with flippers and a speargun.

"Arrrr! Curses... It missed!" the pirate known as a Scuba Pirate grumbled. "Ye were lucky there, kid!"

"Wh-What are you?" Chopper stammered.

"You mean _who_ am I? I'm a pirate o' Captain Steelfoot! Me task is to find ye and get a hold of ye! Of course... The captain wants ye alive so he can take a good look at ye!"

Chopper gulped, but he soon realized that the person he was talking about was the one who held the next Power Star Piece. Letting himself get taken to him wouldn't be bad, but looking at that speargun make him nervous.

"Now hold still, kid!"

Another harpoon was fired, and Chopper dodged it just fine. He certainly wasn't going to hold anything back, so he opened his mouth and started inhaling. All he got was water in his mouth, forcing him to quickly close his mouth and put his hands over it.

_"Eeep! That ability's not working here!" _Chopper thought, spitting out the salt water and letting his tongue stick out in disgust. He noticed another harpoon being fired away again, forcing him to dodge the projectile a third time.

"Stupid kid!" the Scuba Pirate grumbled. "Yer makin' me waste me harpoons! We used these things to take down whales, ye know!"

Chopper would've asked what a whale was, but he was too busy trying to spit out more water that entered his mouth. The Scuba Pirate took out another harpoon for his gun, but he noticed there was no more left.

"Yarrr! I'm out of harpoons! Great..."

Chopper spat the remaining water from his mouth, but unlike the other water he spat, this one was in the form of a projectile that sent the Scuba Pirate flying back and crashing into some seaweed.

"What the..." Chopper paused, looking at the dazed pirate. "Did I do that?

The pirate let out a moan as he slowly got himself back together. With no harpoons left, he swam away from the boy. Chopper stayed there for a moment and wondered what he just did.

"Since I can't inhale things, maybe shooting water like that can help..." the boy pondered, deciding to swim ahead. He looked down at the coral reefs and gazed at them for a moment. "What are those things? They're really nice..."

He let himself sink down to the coral reefs to get a much better look, but he was interrupted by a couple of strange blue fish with green fins wearing sunglasses called Cool Fishes charging in his direction.

Seeing as they weren't friendly, Chopper squirt more water at the Cool Fish to knock them away. What was strange about these fish were that their fins were like boxing gloves. Perhaps a reason why they were considered "cool".

"Weird fishies... I guess I shouldn't stay around here any longer..." Chopper mumbled, swimming away from the coral reef and over the blue rocky floor ahead. More sea creatures were around, including yellow sharks that appeared to be much friendlier than he thought from looking at their appearance. He didn't bother going near them because of the Cool Fish that came charging back at him. One even managed to smack his face with its own fin.

Rubbing his face, Chopper tried shooting another water projectile, but the Cool Fish already swam away, leaving him a bit disappointed, but relieved at the same time.

What also bothered him was that his speed was hindered thanks to the water. Another reason why not to like water levels.

Feeling a little tired of swimming, Chopper let himself sink onto the rocky floor and attempted to run. He was still able to get in some speed, but not much. Maybe if he was running on the water, it would be a different story.

And just like any typical boy, Chopper began to blow in the water to create bubbles in an attempt to catch them. He looked up and watched them rise up to the surface and pop as he began to reach the end of the rocky floor, which led to a cliff.

He stopped and took a glimpse of what was below. Many clams were around and came in different sizes, and orange spiny fish called Puff Tuffs were swimming around. At the bottom of the sandy floor were a couple of Darklings with blue eyes and a blue bulb on their antenna lurking around too. Two Scuba Pirates were there as well.

"Ooh!" Chopper gaped, looking at the pearls the clams held in their mouths. "Those look shiny... What are they?"

He jumped off the cliff and decided to swim down to one of the clams. A clam around his size sitting on a steep hill of gold was the first one he approached. He watched it open its mouth and reveal a small pearl.

A smile appeared on Chopper's face as he reached for the pearl. Upon grabbing it, the calm shut its mouth, and now Chopper's arm was stuck in its mouth. Not to mention the pain he felt in his arm.

"OWWIE!" Chopper cried, pulling his hand away after the clam opened its mouth again. He closed his eyes tightly while rubbing his arm. Even some tears came down his face but were washed off because of the water around him. "Mommy, help me..."

Upon realizing his mother was gone, his eyes opened and his head hung low. "Oh, yeah... Mommy's not here anymore..."

Thankfully, he was able to grab the pearl from the clam's mouth after another attempt. It was a glittering lavender, and Chopper could even see his own reflection through the pearl. And from what he could see, something was actually approaching him.

It appeared to be some sort of crab with three eyes and a palm tree on the top of its hard shell. It jumped up and grabbed a hold of Chopper's antenna, making him yelp out while trying to swat the Crustalm away. It eventually released its grip on Chopper's antenna and began to scurry away.

"Why are these creatures being so cruel to me?" Chopper wondered. "I hardly did anything... OK, I took this pearl from the clam, but still!"

He put the pearl away and began to swim lower to the sandy floor below. Some Puff Tuffs were near him and ended up blowing up when Chopper was near them. Thankfully, the radius of the explosion was not too big, so he was just fine.

Unfortunately, one of the Darklings managed to spot Chopper upon hearing the Puff Tuff exploding.

"Hey! Isn't that that kid that Lord Maquano wants us to stop?" the Darkling asked.

"Yarr! So, this be who Captain Steelfoot was talkin' about..." the first Scuba Pirate trailed.

"Then let's make 'im proud!" the second one suggested.

They aimed their spear guns at Chopper and fired harpoons in his direction. Swimming under them, Chopper tried shooting a water projectile from his mouth at them, but he was way too far to hurt them.

"Aye? What was that? A squirt gun ye shoot from yer mouth?"

Both Scuba Pirates began to burst out in laughter, and the two Darklings joined in too. Chopper was getting a bit irritated, so he swam up to them and squirted water at them to knock them into a large clam that was about to close its mouth shut, leaving them trapped.

"Yar! Trapped we are!"

A smile appeared on Chopper's face as he began to swim away from the clams. He happened to find a tunnel just up ahead that probably went through the blue rocks, so he swam through to reach the other side. Some more Scuba Pirates were lurking around the massive area around him, and there was also a rock that reached the surface.

Curious about the rock, he swam up to the surface and decided to take some fresh air, since he hated the salt water. However, the rock was not what he expected. In fact, there were three mermaids with blue, red and yellow hair giggling. They appeared to be around sixteen.

_"What are those?" _Chopper thought, taking a glimpse of the mermaids. They didn't seem to take notice of him, but he didn't seem to care. Though, they did seem to be eating a slice of cake that looked delicious. Unfortunately, he had no time to think about that because three Scuba Pirates were charging at him from below.

He quickly swam away from the point where the Scuba Pirates fired their spear guns. Three harpoons fired out of the water and landed straight in the sliced cake the mermaids were having.

When the three Scuba Pirates popped their heads out of the water, Chopper found himself diving back under. They were about to chase after him, but they brought their attentions back to the three mermaids.

Their eyes looked like they were steaming with rage.

"Yarrr? They don't appear to be happy…" one noticed.

The three mermaids dropped their slices of cake and smacked them away with their fins, sending them far from the rock. Afterward, disappointed looks appeared on their faces as they looked down at the cake before choosing to swim away. Thankfully, Chopper was able to take care of the cake when he climbed onto the rock.

"Mmmmmm! This is good!" Chopper cheered, dumping the cake in his mouth. "I don't know what those…whatever they were were, but this cake is delicious! Yummy!"

After finishing the cake, he also spotted another thing lying on the rock. It appeared to be a yellow ? block, from what he could tell. A simple kick made a blue flower that resembled a Fire Flower come out. It was a strange flower to Chopper, but upon picking it up, he ended up absorbing the power into his hands and changed his gloves to a light blue.

"What the…" Chopper could help but gape at his light blue gloves. "It's like that one flower from before! I wonder what it does…"

He tried to shoot a projectile like he would with the Fire Flower ability, and instead of a fireball, an ice ball shot from his hand and bounced off the rock and into the water. A small section of the water even froze too before slowly melting away.

Looking back at his gloved hand, he smiled. "Maybe this could help me in the water."

Chopper was about to jump in the water, but he noticed off in the distance a pirate ship. It was black with a large gray sail showing the face of a skull and crossbones. The symbol had an eye patch and a black captain's hat too.

His eyes widened at the ship when a cannonball was fired. It was coming toward him!

Thankfully, he got in the water just in time to avoid the cannonball, which happened to leave a large hole in the rock. Seeing the rock make Chopper shudder before letting himself sink into the water.

Now it was back to being under the sea, but with his new power, Chopper was eager to test it out. Thankfully, a Darkling happened to be approaching him from below, so he smiled and chucked an ice ball at the enemy, leaving it frozen. It slowly began to float up to Chopper before he kicked the frozen enemy away.

Smiling, he swam on ahead but stopped when he noticed the sandy floor had two separate paths to take. There was a sign made of wood that appeared to have something of notice, so Chopper let his feet touch the floor before approaching the sign.

"Let's see what this says..." Chopper decided, taking a look at the words on the sign.

_Going to the left will lead you to the Undertoe. But if you keep going straight, you will be led to a pirate hideout._

"Ooh! This was helpful!" the boy cheered before hearing something behind him. Turning around, another Crustalm tried to snap at him with its pinchers, but Chopper backed away just in time and slightly punted it away from him. It was just a creature, after all. Nothing he wanted to freeze.

He kept going straight to where he noticed two curved rocks in between the path. Up ahead was an anchor hanging from a ship above. Unfortunately, there didn't appear to be anything else ahead. It was just a dead end.

Disappointed by the trick, he decided to grab a hold of the anchor and climb up it. If it weren't for the water, climbing this thing would have been more difficult.

* * *

**Pirate ship-**

Up on the pirate ship, the captain, Captain Steelfoot, was looking off at the distance of the rock. Surely he saw something there besides mermaids, which he loathed more than anything. The thought of seeing them sickened him.

"Captain!" a skeletal pirate wearing a blue bandanna on its head and carried two small swords exclaimed. "I think there may have been somethin' over there!"

"Yar! Of course there was, you blimin' idiot!" Captain Steelfoot yelled. "I could see with my own eyes!"

"Where do you think those mermaids went?"

"I don't care. As long as I don't have to run into another stinkin' mermaid, I'll be fine. In the meantime, we're supposed to be sailin' out to search for some person named Chopper." the captain reached for the Power Star Piece and looked at it with his two purple, soul-piercing eyes. "At least, that's what Lord Maquano said."

"Captain! There be somethin' goin' on with the anchor!" another pirate announced, noticing the chain on the anchor shaking.

"It's probably just a fish swimmin' by it," Steelfoot assured. "Just get back to swabbin' the poop deck!"

"But, Captain... I can see somethin' climbin' it!"

Steelfoot groaned and walked over to the chain attached to the anchor. He squinted for a moment, but he finally noticed something climbing the anchor.

"Yarrrr... Swarbs, retract the anchor."

"Got it, Captain!"

Swarbs began to move the lever near the anchor counterclockwise, allowing it to come out of the water and reveal the person now hanging onto it over the water.

"What's this? Some pale green kid with two antennas?" Steelfoot gawked. "Why is he swimmin' in the middle of the ocean?"

Chopper blinked for a moment as Steelfoot inspected him with those creepy purple eyes. However, one thing seemed to catch him off guard. He noticed something that was shining in his inventory.

"Shiver me timbers! I know that sparkle from somewhere!" the captain took a look at his Power Star Piece and noticed the same sparkle. "Yarrr! Mateys, I believe this is the one named Chopper! ...Though, yer not what I was expectin'..."

"Ummmm... Could you, well, give me that thing?" Chopper asked politely, remembering from his mother that asking things politely was the best answer.

But all he got was laughter from not only Captain Steelfoot, but his crew. "Yar har har har har! Ye've got to be kiddin' me! Do ye know who I am? I'm the most feared pirate of these seas! Captain Steelfoot be me name!"

"Captain Steel..." Realizing who he was, he swung his body in order to jump onto the ship. Many of Steelfoot's pirates drew their cutlasses and prepared to charge. With the amount of pirates, Chopper felt a bit unsure, and Steelfoot could see that.

"Look at yerself! That uncertainty in your face shows ye don't have what it takes to take us! Yer better off swabbin' the poop deck!"

"Poop deck?" Chopper couldn't help but let out a giggle. "Hee hee hee! That sounds funny!"

"Oh, yeah! I thought of the same thing too!" Swarbs giggled. "Ye can't take that seriously!"

"Shut up an' continue swabbin' the poop deck!" Steelfoot snapped, silencing both Chopper and Swarbs. "Ye know... I've got a better idea fer you. 'Ow old are ye?"

"Four?" Chopper answered with uncertainty.

"So... Do ye wanna know about walkin' the plank? It's a tradition when I was once alive sailin' the seas!"

"What do you do?"

"'Ow about I show ye!" Steelfoot grinned, pointing over by the plank. "Just walk over there an' I'll explain the details!"

Chopper decided to walk over to the plank, while Steelfoot made sure he was standing by the edge. One of the captain's pirate crew was behind Chopper with a cutlass pointing in his direction.

"Ummmm... What do I do?" Chopper asked, looking down at the water.

"Oh, it's quite simple," Steelfoot started. "Just jump off the plank and you'll be walking off the plank! You just need to hear that splashing sound."

"Oh... OK..." Chopper took a deep breath and made a jump. The pirates all grinned as he fell, but something seemed off.

"Wait... That's odd... I didn't hear a splash."

"Uhh... SPLASH!"

Captain Steelfoot was suspicious for a moment. It was certainly a splash he heard unlike anything else, so he approached the plank, but made sure his feet were not on it. He noticed two white hands holding onto the plank.

"Yar? A trick, I see? Yer so foolish fer tryin' to fool me!" Steelfoot raised his steel peg leg and tried to step on Chopper's hands, but he quickly let go and let Steelfoot's foot get stuck in the plank. "Yargh! Me steel foot is stuck! Don't think yer gonna be gettin' away! Men! Get him!"

"Aye, Captain! Not many o' us can swim!"

"Ye listen to the cap'n an' do as yer told!"

A few pirates obeyed and got some scuba gear ready before jumping into the water. Swarbs saw this as an opportunity and began to get some scuba gear.

"Not ye, Swarbs!" Steelfoot exclaimed. "Yer supposed to be swabbin' the poop deck!"

"Aw, man!" Swarbs groaned, turning away from Steelfoot, but not without snickering. "Heh heh... Poop deck..."

* * *

**Underwater-**

Chopper quickly sunk down to the bottom of the sea where he first found the anchor and decided to swim back to where the sign was. After all, there was nothing else around. What made matters worse was when he looked up and saw some of Steelfoot's pirates sinking to the floor as well.

Seeing this, the pale green boy quickly swam to the left where the Undertoe was. The pirates attempted to go after him, but because they were not used to the water, they struggled to chase him.

"Yar! Why did the captain send us down here when we can't swim?!" one pirate exclaimed.

"An' doesn't he know we drowned before we were alive?"

"But... We were never alive to begin with..."

"Like anyone cares 'bout that! It's not like we're bein' watched or somethin'."

"Yar... That be true. But let's stop wastin' time an' get that kid!"

The pirates started to chase after Chopper, albeit in a very slow pace thanks to the water. Meanwhile, Chopper had found himself on a narrow pathway with rocks caving in like some sort of tunnel. There was a sign nearby that he decided to read.

_Beware of the Undertoe!_

"Undertoe? I thought that sign beforehand already said that?" Chopper wondered in confusion. "Is the sign telling me to beware of my toes? Oh, geez! ...Though, I don't think I have toes."

Despite the warning, Chopper continued on anyway. He noticed the sandy floor started to have large holes after going through the caved in section. He didn't want to know what was down those holes, so he decided to swim rather than walk.

It was smooth sailing from here until he heard both moaning and the sound of pirates. He continued to ignore them as he swam past the holes. Though, for some reason, it almost looked like there was something popping out of the holes.

When he finally reached the last hole in the area, a giant tentacle shaped like a human toe with suction cups on the bottom section and a toenail on the top popped from the hole and tried swatting at Chopper. He gaped and quickly got out of the way when it tried to grab a hold of him.

"Eep! What's that?!"

He tried hurling ice balls at the tentacle, but it hardly did anything to it. Eventually the tentacle swatted Chopper over by some other holes, which made more tentacles pop out. Some of the pirates took notice of the tentacles and gaped.

"Aye! It be the monster of the seas! The Undertoe!"

"Under what?" one pirate gawked.

"The Undertoe! It be the most feared monster o' the seas! It's said to grab a hold of ye and drag ye into the depths where ye can't escape! The captain even went against it once. He was lucky enough to survive."

Two tentacles managed to grab two pirates and drag them into the holes. The remaining pirates could hear them scream, but there was nothing they could do to help them. "Yar... I say we get outta here!"

"An' disobey Captain Steelfoot? Ye know that's not a good idea! Remember the last time we disobeyed him?!"

"But... But..."

Another tentacle appeared in front of them and tried grabbing them. One pirate drew his cutlass and managed to strike the tentacle, causing a moan through the hole before the tentacle retreated. Chopper was even a bit confused.

Looking at a tentacle near him, Chopper started to punch at it. While his punches were not doing much, the ice seemed to be making the tentacle twitch and retreat through the hole. Things seemed to clear out from here, so the pirates started chasing, while Chopper swam away past the holes and into a larger area. There was a sunken ship off in the distance too.

"Whoa... What's that?" Chopper gaped.

He turned around and noticed a harpoon coming his way. Thankfully, he dodged it just in time, but there was no time to relax. The Scuba Pirates firing the harpoons were now coming in his direction, and there were also Steelfoot's pirates going after him too!

"Say yer prayers, kid!" one pirate shouted, taking his cutlass out.

What Chopper didn't expect was another tentacle to swat at the pirates and sent them flying toward the sunken ship. The Scuba Pirates were left gulping and they too were swimming over to the sunken ship. Chopper watched, but he had no idea what made them scared.

But when he finally turned around, he noticed the area with the rocks began to shake. A large, orange octopus with red spots all over its body, blue eyes and eight tentacles came crashing through the rocks. The tentacles it had looked very similar to the ones Chopper saw before.

The Undertoe had finally been awakened, and Chopper was now staring at the giant creature. And it was glaring down at him, which made him feel intimidated by the octopus.

"Wh-What are y-you?!" Chopper gaped.

The Undertoe tired swatting him away, only to miss, but it was able to show the scar left on its tentacle. Possibly from one of the pirates. Chopper could only frown and get hit by a tentacle afterward.

To make matters worse, the Undertoe grabbed a hole of a rock shaped like a bat and swung it at Chopper to send him flying away from the sunken ship. The sound of a crowd cheering could be heard in the Undertoe's mind as it dropped the rock and swam after the antenna boy.

Rubbing his face, Chopper noticed the Undertoe swimming after him. After letting out a yelp, he swam upward and let the octopus pass by. Unfortunately, it was soon swimming toward him.

There happened to be a large rock at the surface, so he reached the surface and started making his way over to it. There were a couple of mermaids on there – four to be exact. He didn't know what they were talking about, but that wasn't the issue. The Undertoe's head was now at the surface and was chasing after Chopper. And it was definitely much faster in the water.

The Undertoe's head crashed into Chopper and sent him flying onto the large rock. The mermaids paused for a moment and noticed the cake that got splattered on his head. Realizing their cake was ruined, they let out a huff and jumped into the water.

When Chopper saw the cake on his head, he cheered.

"Food!"

He grabbed the cake and let it fall into his mouth before looking up at the Undertoe, which now towered over him.

"Ummmmm… Hi?"

The Undertoe raised two of its tentacles and threw them down at Chopper, who jumped out of the way just in time. He jumped on them to flatten them, but it hardly did anything, considering that the creature did not flinch. It only pulled its tentacles away and threw another that missed.

While an ice ball was able to leave the tentacle frozen, the Undertoe was able to shake it enough to shatter the ice surrounding its tentacle.

"Oh, geez… I don't know how to handle this thing." Chopper realized, jumped over a tentacle the Undertoe swiped near his feet. "This thing's too big!"

What was worse was that he didn't have many attacks other than his ice balls, jumping and inhaling. None of those would do that much against it either. And things only got worse when he felt himself getting lifted off the ground and hung upside down.

The Undertoe watched as Chopper struggled to free his legs from its grasps. To try to make him stop, it reached for a rock underwater shaped like a giant mallet and held it below Chopper. It lowered its tentacle with the mallet, but something stopped it.

The tentacle holding Chopper ended up getting cut off.

Chopper fell onto the rock headfirst before slowly getting up. The Undertoe looked at the tentacle that got sliced off and began steaming with anger. Rather than being orange, it was as red as a tomato.

"What? Did something just save me?" Chopper wondered before seeing the tentacle that got cut off. "AYAH! …Wait, that thing's not even on that monster…"

The Undertoe raised its rock mallet and prepared to smash Chopper, but it soon noticed the mallet get sliced in half.

Undertoe: ?

Chopper noticed a figure wearing a red cape land in front of him. While he couldn't get a full glimpse of this character, he could see the figure wearing a white helmet with a rainbow trim on his shoulder pads, along with a white shield with a rainbow trim and a rainbow diamond embedded in the center.

The Undertoe looked at the figure in confusion before steaming. It raised another tentacle and swung it at the person, who performed a flip in the air to dodge it and used his shield to block the other tentacle.

Getting angrier, it brought one of its tentacles on the rock near Chopper's foot. The figure avoided it and jumped on its tentacle and started running up to the Undertoe. A button was pressed on the silver hilt he held, and soon, a rainbow laser in the shape of a sword materialized from the weapon, allowing him to slice off the tentacle he was running on before jumping back on the rock.

Noticing the damage dealt by the figure, the Undertoe gave up and dove into the water again. All Chopper could do was gape.

_"Who is that person?" _Chopper gaped.

The figure turned around and saw Chopper with a surprised look on his face. "Greetings, Chopper."

"Huh? How do you know my name?"

"I happened to overhear your arrival," the figure answered, looking down at Chopper through his pink eyes, which was the only thing that could be seen from his helmet. "So, what are you doing around here? You're pretty much in the middle of nowhere."

"I know…" Chopper trailed, lowering his head. "I'm trying to find Captain Steelfoot, who I ran into before, but now I lost him. Do you know where he is?"

The white warrior looked off at the distance and pointed his rainbow laser sword in that direction. "If you continue this way, you'll surely find Steelfoot's hideout. You'll run into an island as well. On the other side of that island is where you will find it. Though, I must warn you… The waters between the island and the hideout are dangerous. I suggest you be cautious."

He swung his sword and created a rainbow mist that began to move off in the distance.

"Follow that light, and you will get to the island."

Chopper gazed at the weapon in awe. "Wow… That thing looks so cool!"

The figure looked down at the weapon he held. "Yes… My Spectral Sword has definitely helped me with many obstacles. But for now, I must get going. Perhaps we will meet sometime in the future, Chopper."

"Wait, hold on!" Chopper cried, making the warrior pause. "What's your name?"

The figure turned off his weapon and put it back on his belt. "Most people know me as the Spectral Warrior… But people who are close to me know me as Kumakan."

With that, he jumped off and disappeared in a bright light. Chopper covered his eyes as the light slowly disappeared. When he opened them, he noticed Kumakan was nowhere to be seen.

"Kumakan… The Spectral Warrior… Sounds interesting… I wish I had a chance to thank him for saving me."

He looked off at the distance and saw a spectral of light making a trail. "Well, I guess I should follow that."

Chopper quickly jumped into the water again and began to follow the spectral. While it looked beautiful on its own, gazing at it was probably not the best idea - as much as he wanted to do that.

Perhaps swimming was not the only thing he'd be doing with an island now appearing in the distance. The thoughts of being back on land made Chopper smile.

"Maybe this place may not be as annoying as I thought!"

* * *

**This chapter was a little difficult for me to write for some reason... It may be because it was a chapter mostly involving Chopper swimming in the water? I know many people don't like water levels that much (though I do like a couple). I tried to make sure it didn't feel so bland, because it just wouldn't be as interesting.**

**We've also got a few characters introduced in this chapter, and we also discover who that figure watching over Chopper in the previous two areas are as well!  
**

**As for the sea monster, I thought going for an octopus would be much more interesting because I've mostly seen sea monsters being giant serpents or sharks. Plus, an octopus-like monster being called the Undertoe fits much better than a shark! :D**


	14. An Invader on Aqua Island?

Chapter 14: An Invader on Aqua Island?

After swimming for fifteen minutes, Chopper noticed the water around him was starting to become shallower. The island he saw before was much closer, which made him sigh in relief. No enemies were around to make a move on him either. It was all smooth sailing from there.

"I'm almost there!" Chopper cried. "I can't wait to move around on my own feet!"

But he also happened to spot something else far to his left. It was that same pirate ship from before, and the pirates there happened to see him, hence why they were laughing and taunting him.

"Yar har har har! He's swimmin' all alone in there!" one pirate laughed. "Ye should just give up now!"

Captain Steelfoot even taunted him by waving the Power Star Piece above him. He lowered it just before a seagull could fly over and snatch it. That's when he started taunting the seagulls too.

"I 'ave doubts he'll even reach this ship," Steelfoot stated. "He's probably too tired to keep swimmin'. I'll let some of my minions on Aqua Island take care of him, and if he somehow reaches me, then I'll be delighted to take him down!"

Chopper tried his best to ignore the insults being thrown at him and continued following the spectral to the island. However, he had an idea to speed things up. He jumped out of the water and began firing ice balls to freeze sections of the water. An icy path was soon created, allowing Chopper to increase his movement – even if it was slippery. Of course, since the ice was beginning to melt behind him, he had to move quickly.

A few Scuba Pirates took notice of him and began to fire harpoons. Chopper managed to jump over them in time and shot one ice ball at a Scuba Pirate's spear gun.

"Aye! That fool's movin' faster than this ship!" Steelfoot gaped, seeing Chopper get closer to the ship. "Hmmmm... I guess there's more to him than I thought. I won't let him get to me easily, though."

Steelfoot's ship sailed past Aqua Island, while Chopper was busy running to the island. But to slow him down, his crew set the cannons and let them fire cannonballs toward the ice Chopper was running on, shattering it in the process and leaving chunks flying in the air.

Chopper was able to notice this, forcing him to stop near the edge of some remaining ice. The melting ice behind him was getting closer too, leaving him stranded. He put one hand over his mouth and began to sweat out of nervousness.

Not only that, but now red and black bat-like creatures covered in flames were now flying around him and melting the ice with a few fireballs. Now Chopper was feeling more unsafe than ever.

But something sparked in his body. Almost like he had enough energy to do something so over-the-top that it would make any stylish man cry manly tears. It felt all too familiar from the previous times as well. He instantly leapt into the air and onto one of the chunks of ice still skyrocketing. He jumped off that and onto the other chunk of ice above him.

This was certainly helping him get closer to the island, but standing on the chunk of ice any long was not the best idea, because now it was starting to plummet into the waters. Another spark came from within Chopper, and he soon found his feet surrounded in an icy glow while jumping off the chunk of ice and jumping on top of a Tartara Bat. The flames did no harm to his icy feet, surprisingly.

With his hands becoming icy, he grabbed a hold of the Tartara Bat's ears, allowing him to steer the monster forward. With Chopper's ice powers, the bat was now shooting ice balls, which he used against the other Tartara Bats.

Seeing the island getting closer and more Tartara Bats up ahead, he jumped off the one he was still piloting and began to jump from each bat while ice magic was being churned in his hands.

He finally landed in the shallow water on the beach of the island that reached his feet and hurled the ice ball at the closest Tartara Bat. A large, ice explosion came from the enemy and caught the other bats in the process, destroying them in the process.

The remaining ice chunks from the explosion slowly fell into the water and melted. Chopper looked down at the ocean and then at his hands. Sure, he had done some insane stuff before, but geez...

"Whoa... I didn't see that coming..." Chopper gaped. "That was so weird.."

Before he could think further, he felt himself get struck by a fireball from behind, knocking him onto the shallow water face-first. The waves behind him fell over him and ended up pushing him closer to shore before he could get up.

Another thing he knew was that if a normal person got hit by a fireball like that, they would probably be dead already. How these powers prevented Chopper from losing all of his health, he had no idea. But that wasn't the important thing to think about at the moment.

Looking up at the Tartara Bat that shot the fireball, Chopper prepared to hurl an ice ball, but he noticed his gloves were white once again. "Oh... I guess that thing got rid of my icy powers..."

Realizing he only had one option left, Chopper opened his mouth and inhaled the fireball. It felt strange eating something so hot, but it didn't seem to harm him when it was inside his mouth. In fact, he felt as though he could swallow it!

And upon swallowing it, Chopper looked up at his head and noticed flames blazing on a golden tiara with a green gem in the middle he now wore. He looked at his hands and noticed they were now red, and upon looking at his arms, his skin had changed to a light red.

"Why am I suddenly red?" Chopper wondered before looking up at the Tartara Bat. Surprised by Chopper's appearance, it spat another fireball at the boy. Chopper opened his mouth again and caught the fireball before spitting it at the bat. It sent it crashing into the shallow water around Chopper, leaving it completely vulnerable to attacks.

A stomp was all Chopper needed to defeat the enemy before it disintegrated via a small explosion. With that out of the way, Chopper finally made his way onto the island's beach. It was flat and large unlike most beaches. It was also pretty empty too.

Well, it would've been empty if a couple of pirates had not shown up via parachutes. They landed in front of Chopper and drew their cutlasses. One tried swiping at the boy, but he jumped away from the attack in time.

"Don't think yer goin' anywhere, matey!" one Parachute Pirate cackled. "Not even the flames on yer head will save ye!"

The same pirate began to charge directly at Chopper while raising his cutlass. Chopper would have tried to fight back, but he felt a sneeze coming and ended up letting it out. He surprisingly sneezed out some fire, setting the Parachute Pirate on fire.

"YOW! ME BISCUITS!"

Chopper, along with the other pirates watched said Parachute Pirate run over to the water and place his bottom in it.

"Oh, so they call those biscuits?" Chopper wondered.

"Aye! Well obviously we have to be wary of this kid! I think I've got an idea!" one pirate charged and brought his cutlass down on Chopper, but since the weapon was made of metal, the pirate was forced to drop it when it touched the flames on Chopper's head. The child was only confused when the cutlass landed in front of his red feet.

"Yarr! So tryin' to touch him might be a little more difficult than we thought." another pirate pondered. "So who's got any other ideas?"

"I say we just get rid of 'im in any way! Maybe we can throw 'im into the water!"

"Hmmmm... Yar, that be an excellent idea!"

The pirates charged at Chopper and tried grabbing a hold of him. One almost caught him, but Chopper jumped and bounced off their heads in order to make them fall forward. They soon got up and charged at him again.

"I wonder... What else can I do?" Chopper wondered before noticing some small flames come out of his mouth. He checked to make sure by blowing some air, but instead of air, a small amount of fire came out instead. An idea sparked in his head as he blew harder, making a larger amount of flames spew from his mouth and at the Parachute Pirates.

Because of this action, they were too scared to even approach him and chose to run into the water. Chopper was left confused, but he was glad to be safe. With that out of the way, he decided to move on ahead through the beach. Sadly, he did not see any palm trees in his sight.

But what he did see were a couple of small sand castles that were built, as well as a few shells lying in the sand. Approaching one of the sand castles caused it to be surrounded by smoke. The sand castle that once stood was replaced with a Darkling wearing a pointy, purple wizard hat and a purple cloak. It left Chopper surprised as he was hit by the enemy's magic.

"Surprise!" the Darkling Wizard snickered before firing purple magic at the four-year-old again. Chopper ducked like a pancake and let the projectile fly over him and then tried to blow fire at the enemy. That is until he realized the range of his fire breath was rather short.

"Wha?"

"Looks like someone's bad at using powers! Watch what I can do!"

Waving its arms, a trail of purple mist was left behind before it flung more of its purple magic. Chopper slid under the magic and ended up charging into the enemy in the shape of a fireball, sending it flying back.

"What the..." Chopper stopped as soon as he reverted back into himself and noticed the small trail of fire left behind on the sand. "Where did that bad guy go? And why did I suddenly appear as some fireball?"

He was about to ponder longer, but he decided that it wasn't worth it and approached a steep, sandy hill that he easily leapt over. There were a couple of small puddles around he walked past, but what he noticed more were the palm trees and even some green approaching him ahead.

Before he knew it, he got a glimpse of a couple of trees leading into a jungle-like area and a few palm trees around the beach. There were even some pirates on leaning chairs and wearing sunglasses as well.

"Yar... This be the good life, ain't it?"

"I do say so."

"Ye know, there's somethin' I wanna know..."

"Yeah?"

"Are red people with fire on their heads supposed to be 'ere?"

"...Wait, what?" the pirate dropped his shades and looked up at the approaching flaming boy. "Aye! The cap'n mentioned about some kid! That be him, I believe!"

"Then what're we doin' here tryin' to get our non-existent tans?! Let's get 'im!"

The pirates drew their weapons and charged at the flaming boy. Since he was getting used to this new ability, he decided to jump in the air toward the pirates and spin his body while blowing fire. He found himself being circled in fire and hitting the enemies as well. They were thrown back into one of the palm trees, causing it to shake and make coconuts fall and hit them in the head. One coconut even split in two.

Seeing the food, Chopper was excited and nearly zipped over to the split coconut. He noticed some milk inside one, so he drank it all and even stuffed the coconut's lower half into his mouth. He then ate the other half afterward, and boy did he enjoy it.

Unfortunately, his small, flaming burp only burned the tree down.

He looked a bit disappointed, but there was nothing else he could do about it, so he headed to where most of the green was. There was even a dirt path in between two palm trees. How nice.

Without any thoughts, Chopper ran through the dirt path and into the shade thanks to the trees covering the sun. In fact, a lot of this area seemed to reminisce a forest or desert. The green was everywhere except for the floor, and some trees even contained some vines. It was almost like the jungle area – except it wasn't giant.

There were a couple of pirates through the path that Chopper ended up knocking into the air by spinning in a fireball. He didn't want to have to deal with them, and that was the only option in terms of constantly moving.

Because of how fast he was moving, it was hard to get a glimpse of all the green around him as if he was running through a tunnel. But he was eventually reaching the end, and apparently it led him near a sandy cliff.

Chopper gasped when he almost fell off the edge, but looking down below, he saw any pools filled with water that looked crystal clear. There were even a couple of Tartara Grunts playing around in the water for some reason.

"Oh, no... Not those guys again." Chopper frowned. "And I don't know if my fire attacks might help me!"

Despite this, he decided to drop down below and into the water. It wasn't too deep, so he was able to get out just fine. Despite the flames on his head disappearing upon being underwater, they strangely returned. It was another thing he would've questioned, but he chose not to.

Unfortunately, one grunt took notice of him, and the obvious happened.

"Hey! It's that kid! What's his name? Well it doesn't matter, 'cause he's on fire!"

The Tartara Grunts stopped playing and pulled their blasters out. Chopper ended up gulping before jumping over the red shots being fired at him. Other shots were being fired, and he was forced to dodge while still in the air – and that was even a challenge for him!

Chopper eventually dove down at an angle at one Tartara Grunt and delivered a flaming kick to its face. The grunt itself was knocked back into a couple of others in the way.

But once he landed on the ground, one lucky Tartara Grunt was able to shoot him and knock his Fire ability away. Chopper noticed the ability appear in the form of a yellow star, which began to bounce away. He tried to get it back, but the same grunt shot the star, shattering it.

"Don't think that will help you!" the grunt sneered.

Chopper frowned at the sight of the shattered star, but he looked back up at the grunts and ducked under another red laser. Thank goodness he could flatten himself like a pancake!

The best option for him was to simply charge at the grunts and send them flying in the air and into the ponds. With them out of the way, he ran past the ponds and found himself running across a sturdy stone bridge with a large pool below him. There was no shade around either, so the sun was shining bright upon him.

"Wow... This island looks so cool!" Chopper gaped, looking down at the water and the scenery around him. Unfortunately, he noticed the bridge did not reach the other side. Instead, a small railing at the side was there instead. Probably construction wasn't finished here.

But it wasn't anything Chopper couldn't handle. He quickly jumped onto the rail and began to grind on it to reach the other side. Jumping off, he continued to run through the bright trail ahead.

One thing he happened to notice were some rocks made of the same material as the bridge he saw before. They appeared to be mostly broken with writing Chopper could not understand. Stopping by one near the end of the trail, he decided to look at one shaped like a triangle.

The writing appeared very dusty and very difficult to read. It was definitely not written in English either, but Chopper couldn't help but gaze at it. Not often did Mondrao have these types of rocks. In fact, he probably never saw one like this to begin with.

"I wonder how long this was here for..." Chopper pondered, trying to blow away any dust left on it. He paused when he felt a heavy wind coming from the trees around him. Above him was a Tartara ship that was flying over the island. This one apparently had propellers like one of a helicopter.

What made things worse was that it was coming down in the exact location he was standing.

"Yipe! I need to move!" Chopper yelped, running ahead as fast as he could. He noticed the trail was moving downward, which helped increase his speed until he reached the end, which led to another beach. "Oh... I guess I'm at the other side already."

He ran over to the water and checked for a pirate ship or a hideout. Sadly, there was none in sight.

However, when he looked over to his right, he noticed a beach off on another island close by, or it was another section of Aqua Island. Nevertheless, he decided to walk over there to discover a couple of small trees with the leaves acting as platforms. Some water droplet-like enemies with arms, legs, and sunglasses that were carrying parasols were on some of those platforms too. These guys were revealed to be Cool Drops.

One Cool Drop was starting to slowly descend onto the sand below it in front of Chopper. Seeing the parasol in action amazed Chopper a bit too.

"Hey, is it OK if I borrow that?" Chopper asked politely.

The Cool Drop gave him a strange look before smacking him with its parasol. Chopper felt himself staggering backwards from the hit while flailing his arms. Feeling the mark left on his face, he rubbed it and then looked back at the Cool Drop snickering at him. It certainly annoyed him.

He ended up trying to get the parasol from the Cool Drop by inhaling it, but instead he ended up inhaling the entire enemy and swallowing it. A red and white parasol was now in his hands.

But he didn't see the Cool Drop in sight. "Oh, no... Did I just... Oh... I feel so bad..."

He heard the sounds of lasers coming form behind and instantly jumped to dodge a shot. When he looked behind, there was a Tartara Soldier and at least two Tartara Grunts firing at him.

"Get him!" the soldier commanded, making the grunts charge while shooting. Chopper continued to dodge while in the air, but he noticed when one laser hit his parasol, no harm was done to it.

Plus, he was starting to slowly descend with the help of the parasol too.

"What the... That parasol's not getting damaged?" one grunt noticed as Chopper landed on the wet sand. "How's that even possible?"

Unfortunately, a large wave was coming in their direction. Chopper was the one to discover this first and jumped onto the tall tree platforms to avoid it. The Tartaras were not as lucky and got caught in the wave. Chopper smiled and decided to move onward.

A couple of coconuts fell from above some tree platforms, but they were not fast enough to land on Chopper. There were some that were close, but his parasol helped protect himself from the explosive coconuts.

There happened to be a lighthouse not too far from the island up ahead. It looked like he could even run up it too, so that's exactly what he did upon reaching it. Some pirates that were near the lighthouse took notice of him and gaped.

"Yar! Did he...run up that lighthouse?!" one pirate gaped.

"Looks like it..." the other pirate sweat dropped, looking at its face through the reflection of his cutlass. "Ye know, I never knew I looked so handsome..."

"Oh, can it! We all look the same!" the first pirate smacked the cutlass away from his ally. "We can try to get him, but I don't think climbin' that lighthouse will help."

"Well I'mma go try!" the pirate whose cutlass was lying on the ground picked it up and tried climbing up the gray lighthouse. He tried using his cutlass to climb up, but since it was only one, he was having trouble. "Errrrr... A little help 'ere?"

As for Chopper, he had reached the top of the lighthouse and was now standing on its tip. He looked off at the distance to see what the island was like. Unlike the other, this one appeared to be more beach-like. There was even a dock over the deeper sections of the water to his right that could help him reach there.

Jumping off the lighthouse, he held his parasol and began to slowly descend onto the ground. The pirate trying to climb had finally reached the top, but seeing Chopper slowly float to the ground left his mouth agape.

"Wha...?! Ye gotta be kiddin' me!" the pirate shook his fist as Chopper began to run off to the dock ahead. Obviously chasing after him was not going to do much at this point.

As for Chopper, he noticed a large gap between him and the dock. The only thing that was between them was a rock with a spring pointing upward. Chopper decided to jump and use his parasol to slowly land on the spring to help launch him upward. He proceeded to descend onto the dock.

He proceeded onward through the long dock, but while that was going on, the dock was starting to shake from behind Chopper. The Undertoe's head popped out and now it was charging at Chopper from behind.

"Huh?" Chopper turned his head and got a glimpse of the angry octopus thing. "Oh, no! Not this thing!"

The Undertoe was catching up, but it was not fast enough to catch Chopper while he was running on land. Not even its tentacles were able to grab him after breaking through a part of the dock.

When Chopper saw the dock suddenly veer to the right, he was about to do so, but there was a dash panel that already helped him move in that direction and off a dash panel in the shape of a ramp. The Undertoe, however, jumped out of the water and over the panel in order to catch up with him.

"I don't know why this thing's after me!" Chopper cried, landing on the next dock and running with the help of a dash panel. The Undertoe ended up having a plan and dove back into the water, but Chopper was unsure whether it had given up or not. Nevertheless, he continued onward to the beach just ahead of him.

Well, he would've if the Undertoe didn't break through the dock and send Chopper flying in the air. It tried to grab him with its tentacles, but Chopper was able to get a hold of himself and jump on pieces of the dock that were still flying in the air. Being this high up, his parasol could most likely help him.

However, the Undertoe was now jumping out of the water to get a better reach of him. It tried swiping at Chopper, but he reacted just in time and jumped on another dock piece. Looking down at the Undertoe, he saw the angry look in its eyes.

"What'd I ever do to this thing?" Chopper cried, seeing the Undertoe extend its tentacle to him. Instead of dodging it, he decided to jump and slide down on it to reach its head. Seeing him, it opened its mouth to spew ink, but Chopper's parasol helped block it and allowed him to jump on top of its head and leap off onto the sand just ahead.

Witnessing this moment, the Undertoe was left with its eyes widened before turning to Chopper and shaking its tentacle like a fist at him. It then turned away and went back underwater.

"At least that's over with," Chopper smiled. "Now I can continue on!"

He looked ahead and noticed a large, tall green mound ahead. There didn't appear to be any entrance, but up a grassy hill nearby was a spring. Approaching the spring, he was launched upward onto a grassy platform above where a couple of pirates were.

And boy, were they mad when they saw Chopper.

"Ye scallywag! Who d'ya think ye are, comin' here?!" one pirate exclaimed, pulling out his cutlass. "I'll rip ye into bits!"

He charged at Chopper and attempted to slice him, but what he ended up hitting instead was a red and white parasol that blocked the attack and left the pirate staggering backwards.

"What in the... Am I seein' things, or did me weapon do nothin' to that umbrella thingy there?"

Chopper held his parasol slightly above him after blocking, but he noticed two more pirates charging at him. Knowing that defending was not the best idea, he swung his parasol at them and knocked them back by the edge of the platform. He then charged at the pirates while holding his parasol in front of him. A couple of small stars emitted from the parasol as it hit at least two of the pirates, knocking them off the platform.

"Ha! Ye missed!" the remaining pirate scoffed, dodging the attack. "Ye couldn't even touch me with that!"

Instead of frowning, Chopper smiled as he lifted the pirate off his feet with his parasol and now held him above his head. Spinning the parasol around made the pirate dizzy and led to him getting knocked off the platform in the end.

With them out of the way, Chopper turned his attention back to the mound. There was a large hole with a path inside he could reach. He used the dash panel near him to get launched up to the hole.

Landing inside, he found the path to be made of sand, while the walls were curved so he could run up them. There was also a waterfall and a large pool of water with some lily pads on the wooden railing on the right side of the path. It was nice enough for Chopper to speed down as well.

Running on the walls even felt greater to him considering that he couldn't do something like this before. There was even a small hole he could fit through leading to a spring, so he went through that hole and got launched into a larger area containing a smaller pool with a couple of lily pads. Landing on one caught the attention of a few Darklings flying around the area.

"Found ya!" one Darkling said, firing a blue spell in Chopper's direction. His parasol blocked the attack before he swung it at the Darkling, knocking it in the water. There was also a yellow ? block underwater too, which was nice.

Quickly jumping into the water, Chopper hit the block and found an Ice Flower inside. He grabbed it and absorbed its powers to turn his gloves light blue like before, and then he jumped back onto the lily pad to face the remaining Darklings.

"So he's got different gloves, so what?" another Darkling scoffed. "It's not like it's going to-"

Before it could finish, it ended up becoming frozen in midair.

"I wonder why that thing's frozen in midair... It's pretty strange for this kind of story..." Chopper trailed until he realized what he just said a moment ago. "Wait, what did I just say there?"

Despite his choice of words, he jumped in the air and dove down at the remaining Darkling with his parasol, sending it crashing into the bottom of the water. His parasol was helpful in keeping him floating in the water until he reached a lily pad.

"Well, I guess I better move on," Chopper said, leaping onto the grass ahead and noticed a hill leading out of the mound and into more beach territory. He decided to run down the hill, which began to curve to the right side as if Chopper was running on a wall. He could see a loop just up ahead when the road was curved straight again. Running through it led him to a dash panel taking him over a large body of water with a few large rocks. One rock had a round, orange panel Chopper happened to land on, and jumping off of it made him land on another panel on a different rock.

"Huh? What's this?"

He jumped again, leading him to the third rock, which eventually led him to a large beach area with a couple of palm trees and even rocks at the distance with a few mermaids.

"Ooh! This place is interesting!" Chopper smiled, looking at the open beach. He hit the palm trees with his parasol to get more coconuts to fall, which he happily ate before moving on ahead.

There was a large section of the beach that was round with many palm trees surrounding the area. But what felt out of place was the large crater that appeared to be in the center of the round area.

"Huh? Why is there a large hole here?" Chopper wondered before hearing other voices.

"Hold it right there, kid!"

Chopper turned and was met with a couple of pirates, as well as a few Tartara Grunts and Soldiers.

"Uh oh..."

"Uh oh is right!" a Tartara Soldier cackled, aiming its blaster at Chopper. "I'll admit, you're one fast boy getting away from us so easily... But we expected you to arrive here, so we hid in the palm trees until you arrived!"

"Palm trees?" Chopper looked back at the palm trees. "Ohhhh... So THAT'S what they're called..."

"Yeah, an' it'll be the last thing ye-" the pirate stopped when a coconut suddenly hit him in the head. He felt dazed for a moment, which made Chopper giggle. "Shuddap! ...Anyway, what I meant to say was that it'll be the last thing ye ever see on this planet!"

"Get hit with another coconut! It was funny!"

"No! Slapstick humor ain't funny! ...Unless it's being done on someone who ain't me!"

"You know what? Let me take it from here!" a Tartara Soldier declared, stepping in the pirate's way. "Listen here, kid. Lord Maquano wants us to take care of ya so he doesn't have to worry about you screwing his plans, ya got that?!"

Hearing Maquano's name certainly made Chopper mad. "Well I'm going to stop Maquano! He's going to pay for getting rid of my mommy and daddy! ...And also destroying my home!"

"Pbbbbbth! Like that'll happen!" a Tartara Grunt snickered. "Look at you and compare yourself to him! You're so small!"

"Well I don't care!" Chopper cried. "He did something terrible to me, and now I want to get back at him for what he's done! I feel very lonely thanks to him!"

While he continued to talk, the enemies noticed something in the large crater ahead. An alien-like hand was grabbing a hold of the crater's edge and pulling itself out. Their eyes widened as they finally got a full glimpse of what was getting out of the crater.

"...And I'm not going to let anyone stop me!"

"Yar... What in sea cucumbers is that?!" a pirate gaped, seeing the alien that was slowly approaching Chopper from behind.

The alien slowly began to rub its head, indicating that it may had crashed a while ago. A couple of seconds later, the alien managed to regain full consciousness and saw the pirates and Tartaras gaping at it. Chopper appeared to be the only one who hadn't taken notice of the strange alien.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Chopper asked, noticing they were gaping.

"What _is_ that thing?!" a Tartara Grunt exclaimed. "It's ugly, but I don't think I've seen anything like that!"

"Ugly...?" Mewtwo's eyes began to glow blue, and soon a blue glow was surrounding the grunt. Now the Tartara was being lifted off the ground and hurled into one of the palm trees. Mewtwo finished its psychic attack when its eyes were no longer glowing.

"This ain't good!" the pirate gulped.

"I don't understand... What's going on?" Chopper gawked.

"Behind you..." muttered another pirate, who began to slowly back away. "...Wait, what am I runnin' fer? I'm supposed to be kickin' some butt here!"

Drawing his cutlass, he charged at Mewtwo, but he too was sent flying off the beach. Many others tried to take action, but they were not even able to touch the psychic Pokemon. Chopper watched them get sent flying, but he was still confused.

"Am I doing this?" Chopper wondered. "Do I have these powers?"

"That would be me," Mewtwo answered, catching Chopper's attention at this point, who was now turning around to see the alien.

"What the... Who are you?!" he gaped, stepping away from the Pokemon. "Are you...an invader?"

"From what I can remember, I was fighting that strange alien... Where is it? I was hoping to finish it off for good!"

"Ummmm... I don't know if I can help you."

"Probably not...or perhaps you can!" Mewtwo began to conjure up a shadow ball and aimed it at the boy. "Just hold still for a moment!"

Seeing the shadow ball flying his way, Chopper let out a cry and moved out of the way just in time. The shadow ball ended up hitting a tree behind him and knocked it over in the process.

"What are you doing?!" Chopper cried.

"I'm not finished fighting, you know..." Mewtwo noted, his eyes slowly glowing blue. "And since you're the only person in my sight, then fight you I shall."

It moved his arm forward and squeezed its three fingers, resulting in a few coconuts flying at Chopper. Luckily, his parasol was able to block the attacks, but Mewtwo easily threw that aside.

"Eep! Not my parasol!" Chopper ran after it, but he was soon surrounded in a blue glow and thrown into one of the trees.

"If these are the type of people on this planet, then surely they are too weak to stand up against me," Mewtwo scoffed. "Fighting anyone here will be too easy for me!"

One coconut fell of Chopper's head, leaving him slightly dazed before getting up. He quickly shook his head to gain control of himself and noticed Mewtwo was lifting a palm tree from the ground with its psychic powers.

"Still moving, huh? This should do you in!" Mewtwo declared, throwing the palm tree at him.

Chopper could have stood there and gaped, but something sparked in him that made him jump up to the palm tree and then jump off it to charge straight into Mewtwo. It wasn't much, but it knocked the alien slightly back.

"Ah, so _now_ you're actually doing something! Perhaps I was wrong about this world!"

Seeing his parasol near the water, Chopper dashed over to it and kicked it into the air to catch it. Mewtwo simply hurled a couple of shadow balls at him, while Chopper threw in some ice balls. Though they did not stand up to Mewtwo's attacks, one ice ball got near the alien, but all it did was put its hand in front of the attack to stop it.

The attack was soon being hurled back at him.

Thankfully, his parasol was able to block it and prevent Chopper from becoming frozen. Mewtwo still remained calm and tried to pull Chopper's parasol away from him. But this time, Chopper kept a better grip on it, and soon he was being dragged along with the parasol a couple of feet off the ground.

"Eep! This isn't good!" Chopper gulped, noticing how high he was off the ground at the moment.

Seeing this as an opportunity to hurt Chopper, Mewtwo harshly threw its arm downward, making Chopper hit the sandy ground harshly as well.

Despite that, Chopper was able to get himself up, which Mewtwo noticed and surrounded him in another blue glow. "You're quite persistent... Despite the damage you've taken, you still think you can stand up to me? What motivates you?"

"My mommy and daddy are gone because of an evil demon," Chopper explained. "I'm going to make sure he gets what he deserves! And I'm not going to let you stop me, OK?"

"Revenge? Then I consider you to be foolish." Mewtwo declared, throwing Chopper into a rock on the water. "I couldn't care less about your little family anyway. I'd probably be doing you a little favor by getting rid of you!"

The alien Pokemon flew over the island and over to the rock where Chopper was left slightly unconscious. "Exhausted, I see? Then I should wrap this up!"

Mewtwo looked over to its right at a larger rock where some mermaids were at. Using its psychic powers, it was able to lift it off the ground, along with the mermaids that quickly got off and went back into the water. Now the rock was above the psychic Pokemon, who was ready to finish things off.

"So, little boy... If you have any last words, feel free to say them now before I crush you!"

Still being slightly unconscious, Chopper gave no response.

"Very well, then..." Mewtwo threw its arms down, and soon the rock was ready to crush Chopper.

In Chopper's mind, all he could see was the demon knight Maquano cackling.

_"You have failed!" _mocked Maquano. _"You've only reached the third area of this planet, and already you're losing to an invader! How pathetic!"_

Chopper moaned as he felt something spark in him. Some kind of light in the shape of a heart appeared in his mind.

_"So, ready to die, Chopper? I'm sure your parents are going to be disappointed in your failure! Then again, I'm doubtful you'll even be seeing them, because everyone will refuse to listen to you or even see you for failing to stop me! You're nothing but a worthless boy on the face of this planet!"_

Hearing these words not only saddened Chopper, but they started to anger him as well. The heart-shaped light was soon fading into a dark heart.

"St... St..." Chopper mumbled, slowly opening his eyes. _**"STOP IT!"**_

Before the rock could make contact with him, it was blown away by a powerful dark blast. Mewtwo was blown back as well, but it was able to put its arms up to only get slightly blown back. But when it lowered its arms, it took a glimpse of Chopper, who was looking much different than before.

His pale green skin was changed to black, along with his entire body, and his eyes were larger and glowing white. His fingers were more pointy and demonic-looking, while a dark mist was left behind him. Seeing Chopper like this, Mewtwo was left a little surprised.

"And what is this supposed to be?" Mewtwo asked.

Chopper replied by charging into the Pokemon so both of them were above the sandy island, and then he slammed his fist downward on Mewtwo, causing it to crash into the crash again. But Chopper wasn't done just yet. He flew down to the crater and began to expel a dark blast of energy from his hand. Mewtwo tried to stop it, but it was difficult, considering that this was dark power.

As Chopper landed, an explosion came from the crater, and Mewtwo was surrounded in a circular-shaped blue glow. His eyes were glowing blue as well, but Chopper did not appear surprised.

"So, you really want to push me to the edge, do you?" Mewtwo roared, the sand rising up around as the Pokemon landed while clenching its fist. "So be it! Prepare for the worst, whoever you are..."

As it charged at Chopper, it only took him to raise his arm in front of the alien to block the attack. He grabbed a hold of Mewtwo and managed to throw the Pokemon at one of the palm trees, causing it to fall over and also fall into the water upon crashing.

_"I don't understand..." _Mewtwo thought upon getting up. _"Why aren't my psychic powers doing much against him?"_

Chopper finally approached the Pokemon and grabbed a hold of it by its neck. _**"Look at you... You've turn into a chew toy at this point! We all know psychic powers can't do much against darkness! As for me, I think I'll have fun destroying you!"**_

The change of voice in Chopper caught Mewtwo's attention, which made it realize something. "So... I'm guessing you're not controlling yourself, is that it?"

_**"****Power! Destruction! Darkness! That is what is echoing through my head! And you appear to have power... I plan on taking it for myself when I'm done with you!"**_

Mewtwo managed to send a palm tree flying at him, but Chopper was able to blast it away easily before throwing him in the air. He began to charge up some dark power, and once Mewtwo came flying down, he unleashed it and made Mewtwo fall to the ground, covered in a couple of bruises in the process.

_**"****So, are we ready to finish this? Or do you plan on fleeing from me?" **_Chopper hissed, approaching Mewtwo.

"I flee from no battles..." Mewtwo grunted, looking up at Chopper.

_**"****Is that so? Very well then." **_Chopper opened his hand and pointed it at Mewtwo. _**"So long, invader!"**_

Dark energy began to get conjured up in Chopper's hand, while Mewtwo prepared for the worst. However, while he began to charge up the attack, something began to echo through his mind.

_"Chopper... Please don't..."_

Chopper's angry white eyes blinked upon recognizing the voice, and soon the anger was starting to fade from his mind. The darkness surrounding him also faded away, turning him back to normal. Only this time, he looked much more exhausted from before and was left with a couple of bruises.

"What...happened?" Chopper asked, looking at himself. "Did I just change...?"

Seeing Chopper was back to normal, Mewtwo's eyes were glowing once again, and Chopper was caught in its psychic powers.

"Well now... It looks like you're all back to normal!" Mewtwo hissed. "I'll admit, you did manage to stand up to me, but I guess in the end you don't have enough strength to finish me!"

"Did I really injure you?" Chopper asked, seeing the bruises left on the Pokemon. "Oh, geez, I don't feel good about that..."

"You feel terrible for hurting people that were trying to hurt you?

"Well I feel like I have to defend myself, but it's not something I always want to do..."

"You're supposed to be a hero, correct?" Mewtwo asked, while Chopper replied with a nod. "Having those thoughts are not going to help you in the future. By knowing that you won't really hurt enemies, you will be an easy target."

Chopper was about to reply, but he felt himself get hurled into the crater. Mewtwo also threw a couple of coconuts down to hit him in the head until he was unconscious. In the end, he ended up being buried in a pile of coconuts.

"You are not worth my time," the Pokemon stated. "You put up a fight in the end, but you don't have what it takes to be a true fighter."

Mewtwo turned away from the crater, but he couldn't help but look back. "Perhaps if you learn in the future, we can fight again. But for now, I'm leaving."

With that, Mewtwo flew off and left Clara's atmosphere, now flying through Starland Galaxy. It may have not found Deoxys, but at this point, it didn't care. Perhaps it was time to discover the mysteries of who it really is.

"I may not have found much about myself, but I believe I found someone who knows less about himself than me..."

* * *

**I'd say this was a major improvement over the previous chapter, simply because there was much more and even contained some interesting abilities.**

**And I'm sure many people are wondering about the whole dark form Chopper changed into when fighting Mewtwo. Basically, it's very difficult to control, it drains the life out of Chopper, but at the same time, it gives him greater strength than before, as well as dark powers. So, yeah... Whether it's good or bad really depends, honestly.**

**I also foreshadowed something like this in some previous chapters when Chopper was shown to be pretty mad at some points.**


	15. Battle With the Undertoe

Chapter 15: Battle With the Undertoe

"Mommy, do I really have to go here?"

"It's OK, Chopper. There's nothing to worry about going to Daycare!" Tonberria assured, holding her son's hand as they were making their way to the red building ahead. It was rather small with a couple of large windows that were covered by curtains. The purple grass felt just as pure as the blue sky was.

"But you and daddy won't be there..."

"I know we won't, but you will be safe here. If you went with your dad and I to work, maybe you would not be as safe. Fighting against forces such as Nightmare is not an easy feat, especially for us Star Warriors." Tonberria looked back at Toalune and gave him an irritated look. "Toalune... Didn't I tell you not to read manga while we took Chopper to Daycare?"

"No, come on, Tonberria! I'm getting to the awesome part!" Toalune complained, almost in the way of a child. "You know how awesome Sakura Sho-jos is, right? We even watched it together!"

"Yes, I know, but that's not something we should be discussing around Chopper! And even then, the show isn't necessarily the best thing in the world..."

Toalune was left gaping. "Seriously? It's the bomb!"

"Well, making four girls gain powers from an accident isn't exactly the most original thing in the world," Tonberria sighed.

"Well Chopper was an accident, you know..."

"_**TOALUNE!**_"

"What is Daddy talking about?" Chopper asked innocently.

"Ummmmm... Well..." Toalune stammered, her eyes widened. "Errrr... Don't listen to what your father just said. He doesn't necessarily mean it." she looked back at Toalune while gritting her teeth. "Right?"

"Oh... Uhhhh... Yeah! It was all a, uh, joke!" Toalune leaned closer to his wife. "Does this mean I'm in trouble?"

Tonberria ignored him and opened the door to the Daycare. There was one single hallway leading up to a large room ahead.

"Mommy, do I really have to go here?" Chopper asked.

"Well, we have no other choice, Chopper," Tonberria explained. "You don't need to worry. You'll be just fine here. This will give you an opportunity to make friends in this place! Two year olds shouldn't just stay at home, you know."

"But what if they don't like me?"

"I'm sure you'll be just fine, Chopper! And even if some people don't like you, you don't have to talk to them! Just ask your dad! He's had an experience like..." When Tonberria turned her head to Toalune, she noticed him gawking at the manga, so she snatched it from him.

"Aw, come on, Tonberria!" whined Toalune. "I was just getting to the good part!"

"You should be paying attention to what's going on rather than this comic book! Your son is about to go to Daycare! You should say goodbye to him!"

"Oh... Right." Toalune walked over to Chopper and knelt down. "Listen here, son... We'll be back here to pick you up at three o'clock. You'll only be here for about four hours, so in the meantime, try to have fun here, OK?"

"Ummmmm... OK, Daddy..."

"Good. I love you, son." Toalune said while looking away rubbing the back of his head.

"Just remember, we'll be back at three to pick you up," Tonberria reminded before giving her son a kiss on a cheek. "Have fun!"

Chopper watched his parents leave with an expression of uncertainty. But for some reason, it almost looked like everything around him was fading away, until he suddenly felt pain in his head.

* * *

Chopper quickly sat up in the pile of coconuts surrounding him and rubbed his eyes. He noticed his parents were no longer around, and he didn't have the appearance of a two year old.

"What the... What happened? ...And why does my head hurt?"

"Yar! So I guess that woke him up!"

Looking up, Chopper discovered a pirate and also a snowman enemy called a Chilly looking down at him. "So this is the kid that's been a major pain in everyone's side as of lately? He's so small! Then again, I'm not much bigger..."

Chopper blinked for a moment before trying to pull himself together and get out of the hole he was apparently in. The pirate and Chilly stepped back and watched him slowly climb out. While he could move, the injuries left on him left him a bit weak.

"So ye managed to wake up, kid... Congratulations."

Seeing the pirate and Chilly, Chopper quickly got in a fighting stance, but the Chilly raised its yellow, circular arm while saying, "Relax, kid. We're not the enemy. You should be thanking us for waking you up anyway."

"Who are you two?" Chopper wondered.

"Aye! Me name's Scruffy, matey! An' he here is Chillio!" Scruffy introduced. "I'm guessin' yer after Captain Steelfoot, aren't ye?"

"He does have something I need... Why do you ask?"

"Well, I used to work fer that guy, believe it or not. Back before he lost his foot to that sea monster, actually! We were great buddies until he ended up replacin' his foot with a steel one. He started to get angry at me, blamin' me fer him losin' his foot. Since he rarely spoke to me anymore, I chose to leave his crew."

"I have a hut somewhere on Aqua Island, too," Chillio mentioned. "I used to live in the snowy area of this planet, but I just got sick of it and came here instead. Good thing us Chillies can't melt from this weather! Take that, global warming!"

"Oh... OK... Well, I was just wondering if you knew where I can find Steelfoot's hideout. I was told by someone name Kumakan that he's going to his hideout."

A light bulb suddenly appeared over Chillio's head. "Ah! Then I believe I might have something just for you! Stay here, all right?"

Chopper was left confused as both Chillio and Scruffy left the scene. In the meantime, he approached the crater and inhaled the coconuts below like a vacuum. However, while eating them, there was one thing that he couldn't help but think about. That dark power that suddenly sparked in his mind gave him a feeling of uncertainty. Perhaps these powers weren't truly good?

And then there was that strange dream he had back when he was first being taken to the Daycare. Just thinking about it made him shiver. Sure, there were some people who bullied him, but there was something he remembered being worse. Much worse.

To try to clear his mind, he decided to watch the ocean waves off at the distance. The sound of the seagulls chirping and the waves also made the scenario very peaceful. He even felt in peace.

Chopper was about to close his eyes and listen peacefully, but he heard some footsteps from behind. Turning around, he saw Chillio carrying a surfboard that appeared in a mixture of pale green, green and yellow. There were two other surfboards they carried as well.

"What are those?" Chopper asked before seeing the pale green board flying in his direction. He managed to catch it before it barely hit his face. "I've never seen anything like it..."

"That is called a surfboard," Chillio explained. "You use those to move over the water. They're pretty useful when you're going through waves too."

"Speakin' of waves... I smell a storm comin'." Scruffy mentioned, pointing at the dark clouds off at the distance. "Ye better be careful out there."

"But I never used this thing before!" Chopper cried. "You expect me to use this?!"

Upon realizing this, Chillio sweat dropped and dropped his surfboard. "Oh... Well, then that's a problem. I guess this calls for some teaching."

Chopper tilted his head in confusion, making Chillio sigh and gesture him to go over to the water. When they finally reached the water, the Chilly set his snowboard on the wet sand and jumped on top of it. Using his disembodied, circular hands, he began to paddle like a dog on the sand to get the surfboard into the water. Chopper tried to follow him, but he ended up paddling too fast, leaving sand in his face and large marks where the sand once was.

Noticing this failure, Scruffy face palmed and decided to show him. Unfortunately, the same procedure happened, only this time, sand got in Scruffy's face.

"You're paddlin' way too fast!" Scruffy half shouted, making Chopper stop. "If ye continue like that, yer goin' to dig the whole beach up!"

"Oh..." Chopper soon stopped and looked up at Scruffy. "So you have any suggestions?"

"I don't know, maybe ye should slow DOWN?"

Chopper decided to listen and decided to slow down with his paddling. This time, the surfboard was moving off the sand and onto the water. There happened to be a wave approaching, so he forced himself to paddle after discovering that the surfboard would move faster.

"Keep paddlin' boy! Ye'll get over that wave if ye do so!" Scruffy shouted, now on the ocean as well. "Just make sure ye don't fall off yer board!"

After going over the wave, Chopper could see Chillio off at the distance passing by a rock in the shape of a spike. Only this time, he was standing up.

"So, when you feel comfortable, you should be able to stand and surf like a boss," Chillio informed, balancing himself with his hands spread out. "Like this!"

Chopper decided to try and copy Chillio and stood up while going down the wave. But upon spreading his arms out, he was starting to lose balance on the board. Thankfully, two hands were able to hold him from behind.

"Don't worry, I got ye," Scruffy assured.

"I don't understand..." Chopper trailed, regaining balance. "Why are you helping me?"

"'Cause during the time when Steelfoot joined that demon, I ended up hearin' him say that this planet was goin' to be gone if the Power Star was not in the way. It was actually before I left, an' it was another reason why I left him as well. Considerin' that yer after Steelfoot, ye must be tryin' to take somethin' he has, right?"

"Yeah, I'm trying to get that Power Star Piece..."

"So helpin' ye out would be fer the better then! I don't want Clara to go, 'cause without it, there'd be no ocean!"

"Oh... I guess that makes sense."

Chopper paused when he heard Chillio yelling about some obstacles in the way. Apparently up ahead there were a couple of floating crates in the way, and one was rather close to Chopper's surfboard.

"Jump!"

Hearing Chillio shout forced Chopper to jump over the crate while his feet were still on the board. Scruffy did the same thing before surfing on ahead.

"Wait, where are you going?!" Chopper cried.

"Well, I believe ye've learned enough fer now," Scruffy answered. "Let's see how ye do on yer own!"

Chopper had a look of uncertainty at first, but he tried to force himself to try. The next wave was coming just ahead, and there was no backing away from it. He put on a determined face and went up the wave.

"I kind of wish I still had that ice power and that parasol..." Chopper thought, reaching the top of the wave and surfing down it afterward. Now there were more crates around, as well as a few bottles slightly floating. He could see both Scruffy and Chilly ahead, as well as the darker clouds.

He could also get a glimpse of some kind of hideout ahead. Seeing it made him smile, but the lightning ahead did make him worry.

Looking around him, Chopper watched a few fish jump out of the water, as well as a few mermaids that were soaring in the air before diving back into the water. He almost wanted to know a bit about them. Almost.

However, just as he thought this ride would be safe, a tentacle rose from the waters and tried to smack him. Chopper ducked like a pancake to dodge the swiping tentacle just in time.

"Huh?! Oh, no! Don't tell me this thing's still after me!" Chopper cried, seeing a shadow in front of him. Looking behind, the Undertoe was holding a giant club and was ready to swing it down at him. Chopper started paddling as fast as he could to avoid the giant club that swung into the water. Still, the giant splash sent Chopper and his board closer to the storm.

Both Scruffy and Chillio noticed Chopper land in between them. They were about to ask what happened, but they looked behind them and found the answer.

"Thar she blows!" Scruffy exclaimed. "So the Undertoe still lingers here..."

"Why is this thing after me?!" Chopper cried.

"Yar... The Undertoe is known fer comin' back when its opponents usually get away. I take it ye had a rough encounter with this monster."

Chopper slowly gave him a nod. "Is there a way to stop it, though?"

"Try beating it! I bet it won't bother you if you teach it a little lesson!" suggested Chillio.

"But... I don't know how to stop it!"

"Ye'll find out," Scruffy assured. "Fer now, it's best to just ignore it and get movin'! We're gettin' closer to the storm."

Indeed they were. The seas were starting to get heavier, and the clear blue sky that lingered above them was slowly being covered by clouds. Because of how wavy the water was at this point, surfing was starting to get difficult. Not only was Chopper having issues, but so were Scruffy and Chillio.

A lightning bolt happened to strike near them, leaving Chopper nearly startled like the other two. The waves were getting heavier, and now it was starting to rain.

"Well... I've faced worse." Scruffy declared. "The harsh seas are no match fer me!"

"We're getting much closer to the hideout," Chillio stated, noticing the hideout getting much bigger. "At this rate, I think we should-"

The sound of a cannonball being fired made the three look at a smaller pirate ship to their right. Rather than being a cannonball, a large missile was coming their way. Chillio was unfortunate to be caught in the attack and thrown off his surfboard.

"No!" Chopper cried, seeing Chillio drift away in the water.

"Leave me be! Save yourself and don't turn back!" Chillio shouted, his voice soon fading as the waves carried him away.

"But... But..."

"He's right," Scruffy agreed. "We can't turn back now. We're in the storm, and it ain't easy gettin' out of it. Besides, if ye need that Power Star Piece, then we're willin' to do whatever it takes to 'elp ye!"

"O-OK... Thanks..." Chopper trailed before noticing another missile coming their way. This time, it was being aimed at him. But Scruffy immediately took action and pushed Chopper and his surfboard out of the way, taking the hit instead. "Not you too!"

"Listen, kid..." Scruffy began, now in the water. "Just keep movin'. Ye can go on without Chillio and I. Just believe in yerself an' ye just might make it! Fer now, I must bid ye adieu. Give me regards to Steelfoot when ye meet him! Tell him er about to kick his skeletal butt!"

Chopper slowly gave him a nod before he began to drift away like Chillio. Now only he was remaining in the stormy weather with a bunch of pirate ships belonging to Steelfoot's crew. More missiles were coming his way – only these ones were smaller.

Thankfully, none of the missiles managed to hit him and only went into the water to explode. But that only kept Chopper off balance and nearly made him fall off his surfboard.

His antennas started to twitch when he heard some pirates laughing as more missiles were being fired his way. Unlike last time, they were coming directly at Chopper and were homing in on him. Some pirates were starting to laugh, realizing that they were going to sink him.

But Chopper was not going to go down without a fight. At least, he didn't think so. He opened his mouth and started to inhale some of the missiles. Swallowing them earned him the Bomb ability.

"Errr... Did the cap'n ever say something about this kid bein' able to eat missiles?" one pirate gaped.

"I don't think so..." another pirate answered, rubbing the side of his skull. "But we're not goin' to let that stop us! Mateys! Blow him off that surfboard!"

Pirates starting lighting fuses and watched as more missiles were being fired down at Chopper. Now with a useful ability, Chopper took out some bombs and threw them in the air, letting the missiles hit it instead. He also threw a bomb into one of the cannons pirates were using to fire missiles, destroying it and leaving a pirate close to the weapon covered in soot.

More bombs were being thrown at ships, and many pirates were trying their best to throw them back. Of course, they only blew up in their hands covered them in soot. Seeing this made Chopper feel a little better.

"That's it! This kid's messin' with us!" one pirate sneered. "It's time to bring out the big guns!"

Two pirates came running to the ship's side with a larger cannon and proceeded to fire much larger missiles at Chopper. "See how ye'll like this, kid! Yer bound to be flyin' off yer board within seconds!"

To their disappointment, someone had already beat them to the punch. The Undertoe suddenly rose in front of Chopper and smacked him upward, smashing his surfboard in half as well. Not only that, but Chopper's Bomb ability was knocked away and transformed into a yellow star, which fell into the stormy waters and shattered.

"Oh, no! Why did this have to happen?!" Chopper cried.

"Aye! It be the Undertoe!" one pirate cried. "Run fer yer lives!"

Many pirates tried to move their ships away, but it was too difficult for them to escape with the heavy waters. Chopper, on the other hand, was forced to dodge the Undertoe's tentacles while still in the air. There were also the missiles he had to worry about as well.

When the missiles were getting closer, Chopper noticed they were around his size, or even a bit bigger than him. "I think I might have an idea!"

Once a missile got close to him, he jumped on top of it and managed to gain control of its movement. To him, it felt like moving on a surfboard – except this time, it was in the air with enemies trying to stop him.

The Undertoe tried grabbing him, but instead, it was hit by a couple of missiles that were meant to attack Chopper. Turning to the pirate ship to its left, it dove into the water and rose in front of the ship, leaving pirates scared of the monster and screaming like little girls.

"Mateys! We cannot let this sea monster get in our way!" the pirate in charge exclaimed. "We're not cowards! This thing can easily be taken down! Load the missiles and open fire on the Undertoe!"

Some pirates chose to hide behind barrels, while some brave ones chose to be brave and load the cannons. However, the Undertoe was much faster and managed to knock the cannons off the ships. It even managed to grab a hold of the ship and dive underwater, attempting to pull the ship down with it.

All Chopper and the other ships could do was watch as the pirate ship was dragged into the water to never be seen again. The only thing that did come up, however, were broken pieces from the ship.

"Aye... Those pirates may never be seen again..." another pirate on a different ship trailed. "Those who get dragged under the sea and trapped ferever by the Undertoe. An' as long as we fear this monster, it'll come back..."

"But while we're at it... Blow that boy outta the skies!" a different pirate shouted, turning his attention to Chopper, who was actually flying down toward them. "Uhhh... Scratch that! Retreat!"

Many pirates dove out of the way as soon as Chopper crashed into one of the cannons. Thankfully, he jumped off the missile as soon as it exploded and landed safely on the ship. But because of the rain and cold wind blowing, Chopper ended up letting out a sneeze, which caught many of the pirate's attention.

"Aye! He's on the ship!"

"What do we do?"

"We stop 'im! That's what!"

After agreeing, the pirates drew their cutlasses and proceeded to charge at the pale green boy. Seeing the sharp objects, Chopper jumped out of the way and began to land on the pirate's heads until he was at least near one of the ship's mast.

"Get him!"

The pirates charged at him once again, but this time Chopper began to run up the mast as fast as he could until he reached the top. Some pirates growled and started to climb up, only at a slower pace.

"So, are ye gonna stay up there like a coward? Or are ye goin' to actually put up a fight against us?" the pirate nearing the top growled, pointing his cutlass at Chopper. "Ye can't run ferever!"

Chopper was unsure how to respond to that question. It turns out he didn't need to answer when they saw the Undertoe rise out of the water again. Seeing Chopper, it swung one of its tentacles at the ship's mast, break it and causing Chopper to plummet onto the deck.

"Yar har har! I guess the Undertoe is doin' us a favor! Let's make 'im walk the plank fer messin' with us! He'll-"

The pirate stopped when he felt his legs get grabbed by the Undertoe, which proceeded to hang him over so it could get a better look at the pirate. Having no interest, it threw the pirate far from the area and began to knock other pirates off the ship with the exception of Chopper.

With all the pirates off the ship, the Undertoe finally brought its attention to Chopper and gave him a glare.

"I don't understand... What did I ever do to you?!" Chopper cried, dodging a tentacle that was about to smash him.

The Undertoe gave him an explanation through gestures, such as one where it was showing it losing one of its tentacles. Another gesture seemed to explain something about territory.

"I still don't understand you... Honestly, I just want to get out of this mess already. Is there anything we can do to settle this without hurting me?"

The Undertoe merely shook its head before trying to squish him again. Chopper had jumped out of the way instead, but instead of giving the Undertoe a look of uncertainty, he took a deep breath and tried to put on a brave face.

"Fine then! If you don't want to go away, I'll make you go away!"

Turning to a cutlass lying on the ground, he inhaled the blade and swallowed it. A captain's hat with a skull of Chopper with crossbones appeared on his head, and he also wore an eyepatch on his left eye. He was also carrying a cutlass that was a perfect length for someone like himself.

The Undertoe: ?

"Undertoe, it'll be _you_ who's going _under_!" Chopper shouted, raising his cutlass at the Undertoe. "Hey... I don't know why, but saying something like that was kinda fun! It-"

Chopper was interrupted when he felt the Undertoe slam a tentacle right behind him, causing him to jump off the ground in shock. Regardless, he swung his cutlass at the tentacle and forced it to stop attacking for a moment. It let out a small cry, but that only angered the sea monster.

Opening its mouth, it began to spew ink at Chopper and the ship's deck, making things a little slippery for Chopper. He stabbed the wooden floor with his blade to prevent himself from slipping. The Undertoe took this time to try to smack him around the boat. It threw him at the broken mast afterward and watched him land on the slippery, inky deck.

"Bleeauugh! This deck tastes gross!" Chopper gagged, unfortunate enough to taste the ink that got on his tongue. He stuck his tongue out in disgust and began to spit. "It's almost as gross as cooties!"

He quickly stood up and kept a safe distance from the Undertoe. The rain was fortunate to wash away the ink after a couple of seconds, allowing Chopper to jab at one of the Undertoe's tentacles. It screeched for a moment before grabbing Chopper and hanging him upside down over the ship. Since Chopper's hands were free, he was able to attack the tentacle and force the Undertoe to release him. He managed to land on the deck safely, to his relief.

_"Is this all this ability has?" _Chopper thought while swinging at another one of the Undertoe's tentacles. _"It's just like my Sword ability, only this one is not as good!"_

Having enough, the Undertoe grabbed the whole ship and used all of its strength in order to tilt it. Many crates and barrels began to tumble down Chopper's direction, but he managed to at least slice through one in his way before grabbing the ship's mast. The Undertoe tried shaking the ship, but that didn't make Chopper let go.

However, a lit-up light bulb suddenly formed over the Undertoe's head, and soon it was backing away from the ship.

"Huh? What is it doing?" Chopper wondered until he saw ink coming his way. "Eep! Not good!"

However, the ink didn't appear to actually hit Chopper. He noticed he was completely unscathed by the slippery substance. However, he did feel his hands slipping off the mast, so he looked up to see what the issue was.

His hands were unfortunate to slip off the inked mast, making him plummet to his doom. Chopper quickly shut his eyes until he noticed he wasn't moving, so he opened his eyes and noticed his cutlass was jabbed into the wooden ship. Apparently he was not hanging for his life with nothing else to help him.

While the Undertoe was pleased to see him fall, it was irritated when it found Chopper still hanging onto the ship. Nevertheless, it decided to go for round two and ink up the ship again.

_"How am I supposed to beat this thing now?" _Chopper thought. _"I can't even hurt this thing!"_

When he opened his mouth slightly, he almost felt something was stuck in his mouth. Confused, he opened wider and noticed something was now sticking out of his mouth. The Undertoe was even left confused when he saw what was now appearing in front of him.

A cannon had just stuck out from Chopper's mouth.

Chopper quickly shut his eyes when he felt a cannonball fire out from his mouth and straight at the Undertoe. Its eyes widened as it got hit in the face, forcing it over on its back. A few of its tentacles hit the ship from underneath, forcing it right-side up once again.

"Phew... That was close..." Chopper sighed, sitting on the ship's deck and taking a few deep breaths. "Did I suddenly shoot something out of my mouth? That was so weird..."

Despite his confusing look, the Undertoe was angrier than ever. The octopus-like sea monster was now steaming with rage, and now its eyes changed from blue to a fiery orange. Its orange body changed to an angry red as well.

"Uh oh... I don't think I made this thing happy..." the boy trailed, noticing the bruise left on the Undertoe. "I only made it madder!"

The Undertoe raised all eight of its tentacles and proceeded to throw them onto the boat. Chopper got hit by at least three of them, leaving him dazed for a small moment. Once he shook off the daze, Chopper noticed the Undertoe getting ready to turn the entire ship over. To make sure the Undertoe wouldn't let go, its suction cups stuck to the ship and refused to let go.

Chopper tried swing his cutlass at its tentacles, but they hardly did much to stop the Undertoe. "Oh, man... This thing won't even let go!"

That's when he suddenly remembered something back on Aqua Island. Back when he encountered this sea monster, he had remembered something that helped him escape its clutches.

_"Maybe I can try that again, but this time by hurting it..." _Chopper thought, jumping onto one of the tentacles and using it to run up to the Undertoe. The octopus-like creature took notice and lifted its tentacle to get him off, but Chopper simply slid down while opening his mouth. Seeing the cannon stick out from his mouth made the Undertoe tremble in fear.

With one large boom, the Undertoe was hit in the face by another cannonball and forced onto its back. Chopper had managed to land on a crate that was floating in the water and faced the sea creature when it finally got up.

"Are you OK?" Chopper asked, despite this thing trying to hurt him. When the Undertoe took a look at him, it was starting to shake in fear of him and quickly escaped by diving into the water. "Wait! Where are you going?!"

As it began to swim away from him, the rain and thunder had finally stopped, and now the sun was shining down on the water. Looking up at the sky near the hideout, Chopper could also see a rainbow.

For the first time in a while, he was smiling.

"What is that thing in the sky?" Chopper wondered, gazing at the beauty of the rainbow. "It looks so pretty! It reminds me of that trail that person with that cool weapon made!"

He looked up at the hideout far ahead. "OK... So I'm not too far now. I guess I'm going to have to swim my way over there... But first off..."

Chopper removed his Pirate ability and let the star containing it fall into the water and shatter. "That thing on my eye was definitely not making me feel comfortable... I'd rather go like this!"

He jumped back into the water and got a full glimpse of the beauty around him. This time, it felt more open around him, making things much easier to see. The fish were swimming peacefully, and there were even some mermaids sitting on open clams. The sun was even shining through the water as well.

It felt like things in the ocean were looking great.

"Wow! I wonder if Mondrao ever had a place like this! But right now, I think I should be making my way to the hideout..."

And that is what he did.


	16. Into the Pirate's Hideout

Chapter 16: Into the Pirate's Hideout

The swim toward the pirate's hideout did not take long, but getting close to it was a bit of a problem. There were a couple of small pirate boats patrolling the hideout's entrance, which was big enough for ships to enter. The exterior of the hideout was dark gray with a hint of green to it, possibly indicating some seaweed had gotten on the building, or it may have rusted over the years.

Chopper was at the water's surface, looking off at the hideout ahead of him. The security was too tight, and he felt that simply swimming was not the best idea.

"Man, I had a feeling this place might be guarded, but not this much," Chopper frowned. "I wish there was some other way to get inside…"

He went back underwater and began to make his way closer to the hideout. Sadly, trying to go underwater was not a good option either, because there were some Scuba Pirates lurking around as well.

_"There's gotta be a way to get them out of the way…"_

Looking below him by a large rock, a clam opened its mouth, and a pearl happened to be inside. Chopper also remembered a pearl he had gotten a hold of before and took it out. It wasn't much bigger than the other one, but it was definitely pretty. Perhaps this could distract those pirates?

Chopper looked back at the pearl in disappointment before tossing it over to the Scuba Pirates. They had taken notice of it and were gazing at it in awe as it began to sink to the ocean floor.

"Yar! Is… Is that…_treasure?!_" the first Scuba Pirate exclaimed.

"Outta the way, matey! That treasure's mine!" another pirate shouted, swimming after the pearl. Other pirates soon followed, and only one Scuba Pirate remained out of the five. It was certainly better than five, that's for sure.

Of course, the pirate spotted him and fired a harpoon from its spear gun. Chopper had no problem dodging it and squirted water at the Scuba Pirate to leave it off guard so he could kick the enemy's face and knock it into a clam below. Smiling, he made his way up to the hideout's entrance and making sure to stay underwater while at it.

Unfortunately, Chopper wasn't expecting an alarm system to be at the entrance, and as soon as he entered, he heard sirens all around him. Even the pirates on the boats were alarmed and looked in the water to discover Chopper.

"Aye! He's here!" one pirate exclaimed, readying the cannons. "Don't let him into the hideout!"

Chopper noticed a couple of cannonballs hitting the water, forcing him to go up to the surface and discover the ships firing cannons at him. He let out a yelp before trying to delve deeper into the hideout's entrance, hoping to avoid getting harmed by the pirates.

Thankfully, there was one ship that wasn't being used that he quickly swam under to hide. Its shadow kept Chopper hidden when a few pirates ducked their heads in the water to see where he was.

"Huh… Strange…" one pirate murmured. "I don't see that brat anywhere. Perhaps he…left?"

"Yar! That's not logical!" another pirate barked. "Ye'd really think he'd just leave when he's after somethin' here?! He's still here… I know it…"

Chopper remained still, trying his best not to make any sudden movements. One pirate eventually brought out a flashlight that was usable underwater. So instead, Chopper let himself sink to the floor. Thankfully it was nowhere near as deep as the ocean, but he could feel some sand.

"Hmmmmm…" the pirate holding a flashlight scanned the waters, and every time the light got near Chopper, he did his best to move out of the way. Thankfully, they only took about three minutes to search for him. "I guess he ain't here anymore… Oh well. Back on patrol, people!"

The ships soon went back outside and returned to their patrols. Chopper decided to swim back up to the surface since the coast was clear. Now he got a much better look at the hideout's interior. The best way to describe it was rusty and black. It was also a bit wet as well.

Nevertheless, Chopper swam to the ledge closest to him and climbed out of the water. This area was more like a docking bay, according to the ships being around. It certainly wasn't a very nice-looking one either…

Chopper scanned the room for a door he could enter. There happened to be one up on a staircase, but when he finally reached the door, he noticed something different about it. There was a wheel, and it was too high for him to reach.

"Oh… I'm too small to reach it." Chopper frowned. Jumping to grab it didn't help either, because he didn't have any support to help turn the wheel either. He resorted to using the railing to grab a hold of the wheel to turn it. While being dangerous, it was the only idea he had left.

Opening the door, he was led into a hallway with a metallic floor with holes in them and droplets of water that were coming from the ceiling. There weren't enemies around, so Chopper decided to walk around while water dropped from his antennas.

He found a doorway straight ahead leading into a bigger room. While there weren't many enemies around, barrels were almost everywhere. Some were piled up on the walls, and some were in the middle of the room. Chopper had to resort to getting on top of one to make walking a little easier.

Upon walking on one barrel, he found himself flying in the air when something popped out. The figure climbed out of the barrel and looked up to see Chopper, who ended up landing on another barrel across.

Getting a good glimpse of the figure in the barrel, Chopper could only see a dark face and yellow eyes. It gave him a glare before hiding back in the barrel again. Chopper decided to approach it, but it only led to the figure popping its face out and shooting a small, yellow laser at the boy.

"What is this thing?!" Chopper cried, being knocked back by the laser. "And did it just shoot a laser?"

The enemy, which we will call a Barrel Freak, let out a snicker before hiding in the barrel. Chopper quickly got up and saw the barrel that attacked him and landed a jump on it. Unfortunately, one measly jump hardly did anything, so he decided to do the only thing he could think of: inhale.

The Barrel Freak popped its head out again and shot another laser, but rather than getting hit, Chopper inhaled the laser and gained the Laser ability. Unfortunately for the Barrel Freak, one laser was enough to destroy it.

With that out of the way, Chopper decided to make his way over to the door, but to his disappointment, the door was locked. "Oh… I guess there has to be a key somewhere in these barrels."

And so Chopper began to search the barrels. Getting the lids off each of them were rather difficult for someone of his age, but in the end, he resorted to shooting the barrels to destroy them. Not much was actually contained in these barrels. There was one that contained some garbage such as crumpled pieces of paper, while one contained a box labeled "Blasters Co.". It was nothing important, so he tossed it to the side.

"There's so many things here that I don't care about," Chopper said, tossing things away to the side, such as valuable treasure and expensive diamonds. "The key should be here somewhere!"

After searching the barrels for five minutes, he had given up and decided to walk up to the door. "Why can't I find a key? All I find is worthless junk in those barrels!"

He gave the door a good kick, causing it to suddenly open. "…Huh? It's open?"

Getting a closer look, he realized the lock on the door wasn't completely set up. "I spent a while searching for a key just to find this?! Well, I guess it's nice that I can continue!"

Opening the door, he found a staircase in front of him. Two actually. There was one going down, while the other moved up. There was also another door to the right as well, but Chopper ignored them and went up the stairs. One pirate was walking around at the top, and taking notice of Chopper, he drew his cutlass. This pirate seemed a lot different than the others by being much larger and wearing silver armor. His cutlass was a lot bigger as well.

"What's a scurvy like ye doin' in this place?!" the pirate exclaimed. "How'd ye even get in 'ere?!"

Chopper simply bounced off the pirate's head and went up to the next staircase above. Of course, the pirate was not going to let him get away and managed to grab Chopper's foot and pull him back.

"No no no… Yer not gettin' away from me! I think I know the perfect place fer someone like ye!"

"Really?" Chopper gawked. "What does it have?"

"Oh, ye'll see!" the pirate's grin almost scared Chopper, so he tried firing a laser at the pirate. The laser only bounced off and hit the wall, which ricocheted and hit Chopper instead, leaving him stunned. "An' don't think a li'l laser like that can hurt me! Us Pirate Bodyguards are much more than ye think!"

"Well I'm not letting you stop me from getting what I need!" the boy began to shake his arms and legs when the Pirate Bodyguard grabbed him by the antennas.

"Pbbbbbthh! What're ye, four? Ye can't do squat to me! Ye can't even leave a scratch on me body either, weaklin'! Now allow me to show ye yer new home…"

The Pirate Bodyguard walked down the stairs and over to the door to the right, where he tossed him inside and let him tumble like a ball. It just so happened that the room he crashed into was a prison room. It was nowhere near as nice as the hideout itself. It was hot, and the floors were very wet and slippery. There was even rust coming from the pipes up on the ceiling.

"Enjoy yer stay in there!" the Pirate Bodyguard grinned, closing the door that contained a small window with bars. His footsteps were slowly becoming softer as he left.

Chopper slowly got up after shaking off the laser he accidentally shot himself with. The room was mostly empty, so there was nothing to play around with. At least there was a small window where he could see a few things outside, but that hardly did much for the room.

"Oh, man… I should try getting out of here." Chopper walked over to the door and tried opening it. "Come on! Open!"

After a couple more tries, he eventually gave up and walked away – but not before charging into it as fast as he could. Sadly, that hardly did much except for leaving Chopper dazed once again.

"What's the use? I'm not going to get out of this one…" Chopper sighed. "What else can I do?"

Closing his eyes, he began to ponder. There was one image that appeared in his head showing Meta Knight giving him a communicator. When the image was gone, a light bulb appeared over Chopper's head. "Oh! I know what I can do! Maybe Mety can help me!"

He took out his communicator he thankfully kept with him and looked at the buttons. The smile on Chopper's face soon changed to one of nervousness.

"…How do I use this thing?"

Chopper started to press random buttons on the communicator, but he hardly received anything. Well, except for one.

_"Coming soon is our brand new comic called 'Shadow Boy'! It follows the story of a boy who had gotten into an accident with a chemical called "Poison Black Drops" and had gained strange powers from it…Want to find out more, then stay tuned!"_

"Nothing good…" Chopper groaned, putting his communicator away. "How can I use it when I don't know how to call Mety?"

"Pssssssst! Hey, kid! Pssssssst!"

Chopper's antenna's perked up when he noticed something staring at him through the window outside. He leaped up to the bars on the window and attempted to pull himself up to see who it was.

"Hey, kid. Nice to see you got into the hideout."

"Hey, it's you! That snowman!" Chopper gaped.

"Shhhhh! Not too loud!" Chillio shushed. "You don't wanna alarm the pirates out there!"

Chopper slowly shook his head at Chillio. "Good. Anyway, I was kinda expecting you to get caught somehow, so that's why I decided to come here after the storm ended. Thankfully, Scruffy told me about this place so I could tell you how to get out of here."

"You know how?" Chopper gaped.

"Well duh! Why else did you think I come here anyway? …OK, that sounded a bit mean, but you understand what I mean, right? Well… If you check on the floor, there's actually a little secret that goes down to the lower level. These pirates kept it hidden here apparently for emergencies."

"Well that pirate was dumb for throwing me in here!" the boy laughed, checking the floor. One small section of the floor felt a little different, and kicking it caused a small hole to open. "Is this it?"

"Uh huh! That's right! Though, I might wanna warn you… The lower level is usually filled with water and many pirates. You think you can handle swimming around there?"

"I guess so… But thanks anyway."

With that, Chopper jumped into the hole. When he was finally gone, Chillio appeared very pleased and smiled. However, his smile appeared more mischievous than usual.

"What an idiot!" Chillo laughed, now surrounded in purple smoke to reveal his true self. "That kid is going to be running into a deathtrap now! Ha ha ha!"

"Of course, Master Nazado," Scruffy said, removing his disguise as well. It turned out to be a shadowy canine with sharp, metallic claws, a thin tail that held a yellow blade, and its eyes were yellow. Apparently the robotic shadowy canine was standing on some rocks just below the window.

"I can't believe that kid seriously believed us!" Nazado laughed, waving his scepter to create a doggy treat, which his companion ate. "You did a very good job, Shanine. It's a shame I never had your help when I ran into that brat the first two times…"

"Will this please Lord Maquano?" Shanine asked, finishing the treat. "He had no escape. Your plan sounds very flawed…"

"I assure you that where Chopper will be led is where his game will be over. It's a water area! We all know how much gamers hate water levels! They're slow and it's usually harder to control!"

"I cannot identify your information…"

"Chopper can move quickly on land, but in water, his speed is useless. He also struggles to fight in the water as well, from what I have gathered! So I assure you, Shanine, that this boy will not make it out alive! …But if he does, then we'll get him next time."

Nazado and Shanine both transformed into seagulls and flew away from the hideout.

* * *

**Lower level-**

When Chopper landed, he found himself in a sewer-like area with shallow water flowing to a waterfall straight ahead. There were also some lights around, which was rather strange for a lower level. The water itself was surprisingly clear and was only up to Chopper's feet.

"So this is where I was taken?" Chopper gawked, looking at the flowing water he stood on. "Weird… I wonder where this leads?"

Just before he could progress, he noticed a chest behind him that contained some tomatoes and bananas. Letting out a cheer, he stuffed the treats in his mouth that, for some reason, managed to recover any injuries he had suffered from lately.

"Yummy!" Chopper squealed, enjoying the taste of the food. "Now I feel more motivated to go after that Power Star Piece!"

He ran on ahead to the waterfall and made a big jump. This led him into the area below, which was entirely flooded with water, and not to mention traps such as spikes hanging from the ceiling and spinning fans. A Few Scuba Pirates were down here as well, and they certainly took notice of him.

"Yar? What's this kid doin' here?" one Scuba Pirate asked.

"Who cares? Let's get him!"

Both Scuba Pirates fired their harpoons in Chopper's direction. Once again, he managed to avoid them and put his visor on. A laser suddenly shot out and hit one of the Scuba Pirates, sending it flying back. One more shot managed to destroy it.

_"Hey! This ability is working very well here!" _Chopper thought, a smile appearing on his face. The other Scuba Pirate could only gape as his ally was destroyed, but he didn't back down. Another harpoon was fired, but Chopper's laser easily knocked it out of the way and hit the pirate.

"Yar! What kind o' power is that?!" Despite surprised, the Scuba Pirate still fought back, but it failed to win when it was destroyed by another laser.

Chopper was relieved and decided to swim onward past the spikes around him, but he stopped when he was met with the spinning fan. He tried shooting a laser at it, but it only deflected off the fan and came back his way. Thankfully, Chopper got out of the way just in time before the laser could hit him again.

"Oh, man! How can I get through this?" Before pondering, Chopper noticed a small doorway to his left. Swimming through it led to a single ? block containing an Ice Flower. Absorbing its power, his gloves became light blue. "Maybe this can do something?"

He left the doorway and returned to the fan. Shooting an ice ball caused it to become frozen solid and stop in place, allowing Chopper to swim through the open space and into an area where the current was starting to push him forward.

"Huh?" Chopper attempted to swim against the current, but it was too strong for him to swim against. Many spikes stood in his way, and to large ones were just about to skewer him until he noticed a pole hanging from the ceiling and grabbed it. Even still, the current was still trying to carry him, and the pole itself was starting to break off.

Gulping, he tried moving where he was safe from the spikes before the pole broke off. He was once again being taken through the current and ran into another pole. Large, spiked balls were up ahead, and grabbing the pole allowed him to move lower on the current to avoid the obstacles.

Once past the obstacle, Chopper noticed a waterfall just up ahead. Letting out a gulp, began to plummet down to a water slide below. While the landing was a bit harsh, he didn't have enough time to get up when he was sliding down the watery slope.

"I can't slow down!" Chopper cried, trying to use his hands to grab a hold of the slide, but his hands only slipped along with his body. All he could do was continue to slide down.

He ended up on another slide below, but it was apparently moving in the opposite direction. What was strange was that this kind of recycle was starting to repeat itself when he kept going down more slides. Something seemed kind of off…

Chopper had spent at least five minutes sliding down these slides, and he had finally realized that they were starting to look the same. He had seen that same ledge with a switch off at the distance before. It was certainly making Chopper feel unnerved.

"I don't like this…" Chopper mumbled, landing on another slide and moving down. "It's so confusing! Was that weird switch thing something I need to get to?"

When he reached the slide where the ledge was, he used all the strength he could to jump off the slide and grab a hold of the ledge. He pulled himself up and managed to step on the switch on the floor, creating an open doorway. This led him to a pipe moving downward and leading to a large pool of water.

Chopper dashed down the pipe, since he saw this as a chance to run. Since the slope was moving downward, this helped increase his speed a bit too. The only thing that worried him, however, was that water coming up ahead after the slope had ended.

Surprisingly, he did not fall in the water. Looking down, he noticed he was still running.

"Whoa… I'm running on the water!" Chopper gaped. "That's awesome!"

As he raced over the waters, he noticed many skeletal fish jumping out of the water in an attempt to bite him. But being much faster than them, he was able to avoid them with ease and reach a wall ahead. Looking up, he could see a ledge leading to a doorway, so Chopper managed to jump onto the wall while maintaining his speed.

"Hopefully this will help me get out of here…"

Making his way up the wall, he noticed a couple of spiked bombs that were in the air, and two happened to be coming his way. Gulping, Chopper looked up at the other wall and tried jumping there. Thankfully, a speed panel was there to help him gain enough speed to jump off the wall and land on the ledge.

There was nothing on the ledge except for a cannon with a cannonball loaded inside. There was also a large wall with a crack in it. Chopper thought he could blast it open with a laser, but that had no effect. Then he looked at the cannon…

"Wasn't this thing used to shoot at me?" Chopper wondered, recalling the events pirate ships attacked him. "How did they use it?"

He looked down at the fuse and, out of curiosity, he shot a laser at it, causing it to light up. The fuse began to get short and closer to the cannon until a large booming sound came from it. Chopper quickly got down and covered his face, fearing an attack was coming upon him.

When he opened his eyes and looked at the wall, he found a large hole instead, as well as the rusty floor that looked very similar to the hideout.

"I think I just found my way!" Chopper cheered, standing up and walking through the hole and into a large room with a fan underneath the floor. Unfortunately, he had run into a couple of pirates, with at least three carrying small cannons called Pirate Launchers and two others carrying swords called Pirate Fencers.

"Yar?" a Pirate Launcher gawked. "Did this kid come out o' the wall?!"

"Well don't just stand there! Get him!" a Pirate Fencer yelled, charging straight at Chopper, only to get knocked away by a laser. Chopper ran up to him afterward and kicked his face, knocking his skull off in the process.

"Oh no!" Chopper cried. "I didn't intend on doing that!"

"Oh, don't worry, kid," another Pirate Launcher assured, loading its small cannon. "Us pirates don't have to worry 'bout stuff like that! We're already dead!"

A cannonball shot out and sent Chopper flying into the wall, knocking his Laser and Ice Flower ability away in the process. The pirate laughed and began to load another cannonball, while the two Pirate Fencers began to lunge at the four year old. Thankfully, Chopper jumped out of the way in time and allowed them to crash into the damaged wall.

Another cannonball was coming in Chopper's direction, but rather than dodging it, he inhaled it and spat it back at the enemy, defeating it in an instant. He inhaled one of the dazed Pirate Fencer's sword afterward to gain the Sword ability.

"Hopefully I haven't forgotten a few things with this…" Chopper trailed, swinging his sword upward at the weaponless Pirate Fencer, which lifted him off the ground as well. While still airborne, he spun his sword vertically and finished off the enemy, leaving three pirates left.

Looking at his sword, he couldn't help but smile. "It actually feels nice to be using this!"

He heard another cannonball fire, so he put his sword up in a defensive position. While Chopper hadn't suffered any serious injuries, the force of the cannonball nearly knocked him on his back.

"Quick! Someone get some nets an' we'll play soccer!" the Pirate Fencer shouted, leaving the launchers confused.

"Aye? What fer?"

"He's on the floor! It'd be fun to kick 'im!"

Sadly, Chopper had already gotten up and fired a Sword Beam that ripped through the floor at the remaining pirates. This managed to send all of their pieces flying in the air and into a big pile. Chopper looked uncertain at first, but he decided it was best to move on to the door. Meanwhile, the pirates began to argue over whose arm or leg belonged to another.

Opening the door, he came across a large, bottomless pit, but in front of him was a large ball made of water. In fact, there were other water balls floating around as well, slowly moving both left and right or up and down.

Putting his hand in the large water ball, it was indeed water. When he jumped into it, he noticed he was no longer plummeting, but now he found himself floating inside the water ball. Finding this interesting, Chopper jumped out of the water ball and into the next one. He proceeded to the others until he was finally at the floor's edge near the door. This brought him to a room with a staircase, along with a door to the right.

Choosing to look through the door, Chopper saw what appeared to be a room full of computers. There was one big monitor at the end of the room, along with a couple of panels with an inanimate object such as a sword, laser visor and a hammer were there. There was also a pizza box sitting on a chair too.

"Weird room... But what's this box?" Chopper opened the box and noticed some cold pizza inside. Taking a slice, he felt how cold and stiff it was. "Maybe it just needs to be warmer?"

He swapped his Sword ability for the Fire and used the flames on his head to warm it up. It took about thirty seconds to heat up, and soon it was looking very nice and crispy. Chopper stuffed the pizza in his mouth, and upon swallowing, he felt a great sensation in his mouth – as if he had tasted something so great and better than anything else.

"That was DELICIOUS!" Chopper squealed, hearts now appearing in his eyes. "It's better than anything I've ever eaten!"

He warmed up the other slices and put the pizza box over his head to dump the pie into his mouth. It tasted even better to him.

Finished with his meal, he noticed one of the computers turn on on its own. There, he saw a recording of what appeared to be Maquano speaking to Captain Steelfoot. The sight of Maquano angered Chopper, but he stopped when he heard voices coming through.

_"So, what brings ye here, Lord Maquano?" _Steelfoot asked, surprised to see Maquano enter his room.

_"Hmmmmm..." _Maquano looked around the room, but he stopped when he looked down at a door to his right. _"I don't believe I've seen that door before..."_

_"Ah, yes... Our pirates put in a new faucet lately. All the water an' important stuff like treasure is usually kept there, an' when we turn it on, they all come out and lead outside! We tend to bring our ships over there to gather the supplies. 'Tis helpful, since we always found goin' in to get the supplies more annoyin'. Works like a charm, matey!"_

_"Is that so? Well, I guess that's...interesting. Though, I see no point in it when I plan on destroying this planet! Then again, my minions can help take your hideout out of here before this planet goes! Just make sure you do your job and keep that Power Star Piece safe. You got that?!"_

_"Aye aye, matey!" _Steelfoot nodded. _"I'll make sure!"_

_"Good, because if you don't, there may be some consequences..." _Maquano warned, giving Steelfoot a threatening look. _"And believe me, you don't want to witness them. Trinado already lost to that boy, and he's suffering down in a poison pit, and I'm not feeling too confident about Stoneard either. He's strong, but he's dim-witted. I'm hoping you can do better than them."_

_"Y-Yes... I assure ye!"_

_"Good. Now, I must be going."_

Chopper watched as Maquano slowly left the screen before the recording turned off. This ended up giving him an idea as well. "Maybe I can find that faucet thingy and see if I can get to that pirate! Maybe his ship might be there now!"

He hurried out of the room and dashed up the stairs, leaving a trail of fire behind. Coincidentally, the stairs had led him back to the room where he was before getting caught by the Pirate Bodyguard.

Speaking of him, he was coming down the stairs right now.

"Aye?!" the bodyguard took notice of Chopper, leaving his eyes widened. "But... But... Ye were in there! 'Ow'd ye escape?!"

"I found something," Chopper answered, pointing at the Pirate Bodyguard. "And you won't be putting me back!"

"Pbbbbbbbth! Fine then!" the Pirate Bodyguard drew two cutlasses. "Then I'll be happy to take ye down, scallywag!"

The pirates charged at Chopper, while he ran toward him and transformed into a fireball. The force was enough to send the Pirate Bodyguard flying up the stairs and crashing into the wall. Now the bodyguard was left surprised.

_"How did he manage to do that?!" _the Pirate Bodyguard thought. _"Me armor helps me from gettin' hit by scallywags like him!"_

Getting up, he saw Chopper jump in front of him. Swinging his two swords didn't appear to work, which left him open and allowed Chopper to breathe fire on him and turn him to ash. Seeing this, Chopper felt a little guilty, but he felt there was nothing else he could do about it, so he progressed up the next staircase. There, he found a door that led into a large room consisting of mostly water.

Down below, he noticed a couple of large skeletal fish wearing eye patches. Looking across the large pool of water was a door ahead, but it was locked.

"Water… I guess my Fire ability's useless in her…" Chopper sighed, removing the ability. To his surprise, there was a Pirate Fencer standing on a floating platform to the right, inspecting the water carefully.

"I think the key's somewhere down 'ere…" he trailed, dumping his head in the water, only to have the Pirate Fish snap at him, forcing his head out of the water. "Shiver me timbers! Why are these Pirate Fish so snappy lately?!"

Pondering over the idea, Chopper ran across the wall and landed behind the Pirate Fencer. Slowly, he pulled his sword away from his waist and dropped it into his mouth, now donning the Sword ability again.

"These scurvies just never learn…" the Pirate Fencer slowly turned and saw Chopper. "What the… What're ye doin' here?! Oh, I'm goin' to make ye pay fer sneakin' up on me!"

He reached for his sword, only to find it missing. "What in the… Where's me sword?! It was right here! Did ye do somethin' about it, ye scallywag?"

"Ummmmm… No?" Chopper answered, his eyes looking away from the pirate.

"Don't lie to me! Ye took it all right! Now I'm gonna have to snatch it from ye!"

Diving toward Chopper, the Pirate Fencer tried grabbing his sword, but Chopper jumped over and was now near the edge of the platform. The pirate ended up bumping into the rusty wall, but he turned around and saw Chopper facing him. Going at it again, he dove, but Chopper jumped again, leading the Pirate Fencer to fall into the water instead.

"Arrrr! Ye li'l scurvy!" the Pirate Fencer sneered, poking his head out of the water. "Ye got me all wet! Now yer gonna-"

Just as he was about to finish, he felt something tugging on his leg. Looking down below, a few Pirate Fish were biting at his legs and attempting to pull him down. With no weapon to fend himself off, there was not much he could do except crying for help.

Feeling bad for him, Chopper decided to jump in the water and swing his sword at the Pirate Fish to scare them off. He soon got out of the water once the Pirate Fencer managed to pull himself out. But just as soon as Chopper got out, he grabbed the boy.

"Ye just made a stupid move," the Pirate Fencer grinned, reaching for Chopper's sword. "Now, give me back me sword!"

In retaliation, Chopper managed to kick his chest and force him to release him. Chopper soon bonked his head with the flat side of his sword before jumping back in the water. He began to wonder whether saving him was the best idea.

Many Pirate Fish began to swim toward him as he began to sink to the floor, but using his sword, Chopper fended them off. "Oh, so I can actually use my sword underwater? I like that!"

Once he touched the bottom, Chopper began to scout around for any key in sight. It was rather difficult to do so with how big the pool was. Plus, he had no idea what the key looked like in the first place.

But to his luck, he happened to stumble upon a key off at the distance near an underwater tunnel. Chopper quickly swam after it, but a Pirate Fish was able to grab a hold of it with its sharp teeth and taunt him before swimming into the tunnel. Now Chopper was getting a little irritated, making him swing his sword to his side, which coincidentally hit a Pirate Fish lunging at him.

Unsure of what else to do, he tried to run into the tunnel ahead, which was rather difficult considering that the water hindered his speed. He chose to simply swim and made his way through the tunnel. "At least I'm not being pushed forward like in that other area…"

He continued to give chase to the Pirate Fish until he found two directions he could move. Sadly, the fish had already gotten out of his sight when he found the two tunnels. Chopper was left confused and tried to decide which one to go. Ultimately, he chose the left tunnel.

But to his disappointment, it only led him into a rectangle-shaped room with glass walls. There wasn't anything of interest except for what he saw through the glass. It was supposedly another hallway in the hideout he had not run into. Nevertheless, he left the small area and swam to the right tunnel to find himself in a much larger room. It was over twenty feet long and probably at least fifteen feet wide.

And to his shock, there were Tartaras in there. Not just any soldier, but an Aqua Tartara wearing a jetpack suitable for water terrain. Like most Tartaras, they were black and white and had red eyes, along with sharp claws on their hands and feet, as well as a sharp tail. Their red and black armor were also very suitable in the water as well.

"Uh oh..." Chopper gulped, now being caught by a few Aqua Tartaras.

Their laser shots were blue rather than a usual red or black. He didn't bother using his sword to block the shots, worried that it would only destroy it. Chopper continued to swim in order to dodge the shots and made his way up to the first Aqua Tartara. With a vertical sword spin, he was able to deal some decent damage and defeat it after two more swings.

He approached the others and simply knocked them into the walls with his sword and continued to pursue the Pirate Fish swimming to a hole at the bottom of the sandy floor. While the Aqua Tartaras continued to fire, Chopper ended up escaping and managed to get closer to the Pirate Fish.

"You're not getting away!" Chopper cried, pointing his sword at the Pirate Fish.

Eventually the tunnel stopped moving downward and moved in an upper angle like some sort of elevator. This eventually led to a small, sandy room, and it was at this point where the Pirate Fish was stuck in a dead end.

Seeing this as an advantage, Chopper had the Pirate Fish cornered and kept his sword pointed at said fish. "Just give me the key, please... That's all I want."

The Pirate Fish's mouth dropped in fear, making it drop the key, and then it tried to scurry away. Chopper smiled, picking up the key and turning around, only to realize what the Pirate Fish was actually scared of.

Two Darklings had appeared behind Chopper and were ready to fire a spell. The four year old quickly swung at them with his sword at least twice to defeat them. Seeing the enemies were gone, the Pirate Fish quickly swam away.

Nevertheless, he left that small room and returned to the larger one, only to get shot by an Aqua Tartara from behind. This knocked away his Sword ability in the process, and due to being unable to inhale underwater, he could not catch the star that began to ascend until it shattered.

"Don't think we'd forget about you!" one of the remaining Aqua Tartaras sneered. "Now let's get back to business!"

Chopper saw more shots coming his way, so he quickly avoided them and squirt a water projectile at one Tartara, which surprisingly dealt some damage. He gave it a kick afterward and quickly swam out of the room. The two Aqua Tartaras soon gave chase.

* * *

**Room with locked door-**

Chopper had managed to reach the surface and jump out of the water before any Pirate Fish could get to him. He approached the locked door and began to unlock it, only to have the two Aqua Tartaras jump out of the water and open fire.

However, their jetpacks suddenly stopped working while in the air, and they found themselves falling into the water again.

"What the… What gives?!" the first Aqua Tartara exclaimed.

"I'm guessing these jetpacks only work underwater…" the second answered. "I guess there ALWAYS has to be some sort of flaw to these machines."

Seeing this as a chance to attack, Chopper leaped in the air and jumped on both of their heads to defeat him before he landed back by the door. Pulling the key out, Chopper unlocked the door to the next room, which turned out to be a long walkway with large fish tanks. They didn't appear to look like anything he had gone through before, so it was most likely a new area.

Chopper chose to run forward to the door ahead, though he did spot another door to his right. He came to a halt and turned to the right door to find a room with a couple of hammocks tied to some poles on the walls. A few pirates, namely Pirate Bodyguards and Pirate Launchers were asleep in these beds.

"Oh… I should be quiet." Chopper mumbled, slowly turning away from the room, only to step on a rubber duck lying on the floor. Many pirates sat up from their hammocks and looked around.

"Aye! What was that?!" a Pirate Bodyguard exclaimed, looking around the room. The only thing he saw was a rubber duck on the floor. "Pete! What's yer rubber ducky doin' on the floor?!"

A Pirate Launcher named Pete walked over to his rubber ducky and picked it up. "Beats me. I think I fergot to put this where it belongs: right beside meself!"

He let the rubber duck make a squeak before he placed it beside himself and went back to sleep. The other pirates chose to sleep, not knowing that the rubber duck was not the only thing in the room.

Chopper let out a sigh of relief as he looked back at the room. "At least I got out in time and hid… I should pay more attention."

He left that small hallway and proceeded to the one just up ahead into a room with a single loop and a slope leading down to another pool of water. Past that water was another slope, only it was curving upward to the next door.

"Ooh! Some running!" Chopper cheered, running through the loop and over the pool of water. Looking below at the clear water, it was obvious that there were traps such as spikes. There also appeared to be a spring in case if anyone got stuck. "I don't need stuff like that when I can run over this water!"

Chopper crossed the water and started to run up the wall leading to a ledge above him. Once at the door, he opened it into a small room with an upreel handle hanging from the ceiling. The room itself was more of a cylinder shape, and there also happened to be a ledge above.

Grabbing the upreel handle, Chopper ascended to the ledge and landed in front of the door. He found himself in a long hallway with glass walls and a ceiling. Just before he could take a step, something echoed through the room.

_"Attention, mateys! This is yer cap'n speakin'!" _Steelfoot exclaimed through the speakers. _"Our ship is landed just below the large faucet, an' I request one of ye turn the thing on! ...An' someone do somethin' about shuttin' the doors leadin' to me room! I don't want any unrequested guests ravagin' in there!"_

Chopper noticed some doors up ahead that were starting to come down. They didn't appear to be breakable, so he thought of the only option at this point and made a mad dash through the hallway. Getting past the first door was easy, but for the others, he was forced to slightly duck under the doors.

At this point, he started to wonder if Captain Steelfoot was expecting him to go through this hallway.

He had finally reached the final door that was closing, but from the sight of it, it didn't look like he had enough time to reach it, nor did he have enough time to put himself at a sudden halt. All Chopper could do was close his eyes and expect for the worst.

A sudden crash was heard, making Chopper open his eyes. He noticed no closing door in his sight and a normal door just up ahead. He also felt a little exhausted for some reason and ended up falling on the floor in front of the door ahead. Getting up, he looked back at the other door and saw a large hole in the shape of his form.

"Did I make that?" Chopper asked, getting closer to the hole. "Is that why I feel a little dizzy suddenly?"

He looked at it for a little bit before choosing not to care about the question and proceeded back to the door ahead of him. The door was black with red eyes, which Chopper recalled seeing twice before.

"Another one of these doors? Well, I'm guessing it's boss time." Chopper kicked the door open, expecting to find Steelfoot inside. Instead, he saw an empty room with a bed to the right corner and a desk up ahead with a diary. Beside it was a feather in ink. "He's not here... Though, I don't think he'd be here anyway."

He walked over to the bed and decided to take a two minute nap that ended up healing his wounds strangely. Afterward, Chopper decided to go look at the book lying on the table and opened it.

_Month 4, Day 17_

_By me steel foot! I was able to discover me ancestor's secret treasure buried in Aqua Island! But to me disappointment, there was nothin' but clams inside! Perhaps me ancestors only cared about clams back then... An' there were no pearls in 'em either! What a waste o' time!_

_Month 5, Day 4_

_Yaaaargh! I swear, this be one of the worst weeks I've ever experienced! I fought against the monster of the seas, the Undertoe, in a ferocious battle, but in the end, it took me leg! Ever since then, it had been tryin' to chase me around, wishin' to tear me apart! Thankfully, Lord Maquano's minions had requested to get me a new foot – one that would be enough to fight against a monster like the Undertoe! Now I can finally get revenge upon the monster that was responsible fer turnin' me into bones!_

_Month 5, Day 8_

_I had finally gotten a brand new leg – a steel one, at that! An' I even encountered the Undertoe again in the ocean, but in the end, my new steel foot allowed me to become victorious. Ever since then, the Undertoe refused to go after me. That'll teach the sea monster fer messin' with me all those years! Perhaps I should change me name... Rather than being Captain Deadlock, I decided to change me name to Captain Steelfoot! Sounds much more fittin' fer me!_

_Month 8, Day 28_

_So Lord Maquano had destroyed a planet called Mondrao and eradicated the entire species livin' there. Apparently he said somethin' about them bein' from the stars or some stupid thing I don't care about. Regardless, he did it out of joy, an' he was satisfied...or so he thought. Turns out there was a survivor, an' so far, he had beaten Trinado, an ally of mine. Lord Maquano told me I was responsible fer holdin' some kind o' Power Star Piece or somethin'. He also mentioned that the target is someone named Chopper. If he managed to beat Trinado, then he might be a problem fer me. …Not!_

Chopper checked to see if there was more writing below, but there didn't appear to be any left. It just ended there. Disappointed, Chopper put the book down and looked over to his left to find a door. It was the exact door he had seen in that one recording. He quickly ran to the door and opened it into a large hallway and a large hole just up ahead.

"This must be the way leading to that bad guy's ship," Chopper deduced. "I guess I better move!"

The door quickly shut behind him, making him turn around. What he saw instead was a large amount of water firing in his direction, catching him in the progress.

"WAAAAH! I don't like this!" Chopper cried, now being pushed toward the faucet's exit. He tried to fight back the current, but it was too strong.

All he could do was wait until he was pushed out of the faucet.

* * *

**So we got a little bit of history with Steelfoot and also a lot of water exploration in this chapter. But it appears this world is soon coming to a close...**

**And it's very appropriate to end it with a boss fight! :D**


	17. Captain Steelfoot: Duel Over the Seas

Chapter 17: Captain Steelfoot: Duel Over the Seas

"All right, mateys! Ye know what ye have to do!" Steelfoot shouted, making his crew members hurry over to the faucet that was above them. "An' make sure no one breaks the supplies, ye got that?!"

"But what about me, Captain?" Swarbs cried, carrying his mop and bucket full of water. "Can't I take a break from cleanin' the deck?"

"Is it all clean, Swarbs?"

"Of course! Just take a look fer yerself!"

Steelfoot decided to check the ship's deck and noticed how spotless it was. However, a smirk had formed on his face. "Hmmmmmm… Yes, this does look nice. Very nice. In fact, I can see me own reflection through here! …But, I think there's one small problem, matey."

"What's that?" Swarbs gawked.

"Ye missed a spot?"

"Where?" the pirate asked before Steelfoot had tossed a few cans on the deck.

"There! Now get back to work, Swarbs!"

With Swarbs back to work, Steelfoot returned to the front deck and noticed water spewing out of the faucet. Probably another thing for Swarbs to clean off, but it was no big deal when a couple of crates had landed on the ship, as well as a few treasure chests.

"Ah, yes! From what I recall, Princess Poisna wanted some of these crates here delivered." Steelfoot recalled. "Perhaps maybe she won't be as stuck-up and bratty as before! Yar har har har!"

Before he could finish laughing, something else had landed on the ship, making him stop laughing as he stared at the figure. All of the other pirates gasped at him as well, unsure of what to do.

"What?! But… But… HOW DID YE GET HERE?!" roared Steelfoot.

Chopper let out a small moan before slowly getting up. When he realized he was surrounded by pirates, he gaped. "Oh… Uh… Hi there! It's nice to see you guys! …Right?"

The pirates on the ship growled as they started to charge at the enemy. Chopper gulped and prepared to get out of the way until he heard Steelfoot's voice.

"Mateys! Away from him!" Stellfoot ordered, making the pirates back away. "I think I'd like to deal with this kid meself!"

The pirates let out groans of disappointment as they began to walk away. "Oh, don't get me wrong… Yer all welcome to watch me destroy this scallywag! An' perhaps I might even let you join in on the fun!"

Now the pirates were more eager and returned to Steelfoot's side. One decided to go back to the wheel and steer away from the hideout, now that they no longer had a reason to be at the faucet.

"So, little boy… Ye really thought ye could just break into me hideout an' try to get to me through the faucet." Steelfoot snarled. "Then again, I expected yer arrival, hence why I tried shuttin' the doors to me personal room! I guess ye were just too fast fer me security!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Chopper retorted, clenching his fists. "And now I'm not going to leave this boat until I get what I want!"

"What? The Power Star Piece?" the captain took the said item out and rubbed it in his face before pulling it away when he tried grabbing it. "Do ye really know who I am? I'm Captain Steelfoot, the most dangerous pirate of these seas!"

"And I'm Chopper! Chopper…ummmm…" Chopper paused for a moment to ponder, while the pirates and Steelfoot instantly fell over. "Come to think of it… I don't remember my last name, and I don't even remember my mommy and daddy telling me about it…"

Steelfoot got up and gave the boy a glare. "Well, it doesn't matter whether or not ye have a last name! Yer in me territory, an' fer that, I have to make ye pay! I was considerin' makin' ye walk the plank again, but we all know how _that_ turned out… Naw, I think I just have to destroy ye!"

While Chopper got in a fighting stance, Steelfoot drew his cutlass and also what appeared to be a pistol. He pointed it at Chopper and fired, barely hitting his feet. However, it didn't make a hole through the ship. All Chopper could do was shiver and gape at Steelfoot.

"Yar har har har! Aw, what's da matter? Ye scared of a li'l shot like that? Heh heh… This should be so easy…"

The other pirates began to laugh at Chopper's sacredness, but since Steelfoot made the first move, he took action and made a leap toward him. The captain wasn't expecting to be kicked in the side of the jaw, which not even Chopper had planned.

The results were the captain stumbling across the ship and landing on his stomach.

"S-Sorry!" Chopper gulped, looking a bit guilty.

He rubbed his side jaw in pain and gave Chopper a snarl before glaring at his crew. "Don't just stand there! Get him!"

Chopper's eyes widened when the pirates tried attacking him. He jumped once a pirate tried swinging his weapon, and he ended up landing on the enemy's head. Bouncing off, he began to jump on many others to leave them stunned before running up the mast of the ship and standing on its tip.

"Hey! How'd he managed to do that?!" one pirate gaped. "I've never seen somethin' like that before!"

"Grrrrr! Little coward!" Steelfoot snarled. "Well, mateys? Are ye gonna just stand there, or are ye gonna get 'im?!"

The pirates obeyed and started to climb the mast. Chopper looked down with a shocked expression when the pirates were getting closer. However, a simple jump off the mast was able to make the pirates climbing shocked.

"What the… Yer kiddin' me!"

"He jumped off!"

"No fair!"

The pirates had already dropped from the mast and made a huge pile when they had a worse landing than Chopper. One even dropped their cutlass, allowing Chopper to inhale it to regain his Pirate ability. Of course, this did not please Steelfoot one bit.

"Who do ye think ye are?!" Steelfoot gaped, witnessing Chopper's Copy Ability. "Now yer wearin' a pirate's hat! How d'ye do that?"

"Well… I think it was because-" Chopper was interrupted by a cannon being loaded by Steelfoot.

"Ferget that question! What matters is that I blow ye to the bottom of the seas an' into Gravy Bones's Locker!"

A cannonball was fired out, but it ended up missing Chopper and hitting the crew instead, making bones fly everywhere, including the water. Their heads remained on the ship, but when they discovered some of their pieces were in the water, they quickly jumped off the ship.

"Ye idiots!" Steelfoot roared. "Ye know yer pieces will come back together through the ghost magic blessed to us! Urrgghhh… Very well. I guess this fight's just between ye an' I fer real!"

Steelfoot fired another shot from his pistol, but Chopper's cutlass managed to easily slice through it. Angered, he decided to strike him with his cutlass, but the pale green boy easily blocked it with his own. "What's goin' on?! How are ye able to do these things? How long have ye been piratin'?"

"I don't think I've ever pirated…" Chopper trailed, swinging at him, only to miss. "But I'm still going to get that Power Star Piece from you, no matter what!"

Seeing this as a challenge, Steelfoot swung as hard as he could at his opponent. However, Chopper was able to avoid it by ducking, and soon he jumped up to the pirate's chest and swung his cutlass, leaving a small tear on Steelfoot's purple shirt. He merely shook it off and started to shoot at Chopper. The shots missed, but one shot made a hole through Chopper's hat.

Unhappy by the hole in his hat, Chopper opened his mouth, revealing a cannon that began to stick out of his mouth. Steelfoot ended up gaping in the process.

"Shiver me timbers!" Steelfoot exclaimed. "How on Clara did ye manage to get a cannon in yer mouth?! 'Tis makes no sense!"

A cannonball fired out, forcing Steelfoot to get down to avoid it. It ended up going over him and into the water. Seeing this as an opportunity to attack, he swung his cutlass at Chopper's feet to keep him off guard and make him hop away while holding his foot in pain.

"Yowie!" Chopper cried.

"Yeh heh heh heh! Perfect!" Steelfoot grinned, grabbing the boy by his antennas. "Now, hold still while ye enjoy the ride!"

With all his might, he threw Chopper at the ship's mast, damaging it slightly. This managed to catch Swarbs attention as he saw Steelfoot approach him and swing at him. Only this time, he heard the clanking sound of another blade block it.

"Captain!" Swarbs cried out while mopping the deck. "What're ye doin'?!"

"I don't have time fer questions, Swarbs!" Steelfoot hissed, now getting pushed back by Chopper's swings. "This is me own battle! Ye just continue doin' yer job, got that?!"

"Errr… Yes, cap'n!" And with that, he continued to clean the deck while Steelfoot decided to put his steel peg leg to use and stepped on Chopper's foot, causing him to let out a large cry in pain.

Grinning, Steelfoot decided to kick him in the face to send him flying to the ship's railing. Now it was time for him to finish the job, so he got his pistol ready and prepared to fire. Unfortunately, just when he fired, Chopper shot a cannonball from his mouth and managed to block the shot and hit Steelfoot in the chest, making him fall back on the ship. This gave Chopper the chance to jump over to him and kick him in the chest a couple of times until Steelfoot kicked him away with his steel leg.

"So, I guess I showed ye why me name's Steelfoot," Steelfoot smirked, making one step toward Chopper. "Did ye know I used to be called Captain Deadlock? It wasn't until me right leg was taken by that blasted scallywag monster!"

"Your book thingy said that," Chopper answered, swinging his cutlass and pointing it at him while giving him an angry look. "I found it on your table!"

"Ahhhh… So ye read me diary, huh? Looks like ye know a little more 'bout me now, matey! But let's not get into some lecturin'. We're here to fight like pirates, an' that's how it will be!"

Steelfoot started to jab at the hero, who started to duck and dodge each stab, and then he tried stabbing at him. Of course, Steelfoot managed to block it easily and kick Chopper in the face, which left a large, red mark. He thought it looked better on Chopper, though the only response he got was another cannonball, which he easily dodged.

However, the cannonball ended up hitting someone else. Turning around, Steelfoot discovered Swarbs in a pile of his own bones. His head was hopping on the top of the pile.

"Captain! I need yer help!" Swarbs hollered as Steelfoot performed a back flip to reach him. He picked up Swarbs's skull and, rather than helping him, he threw him into the ocean. To add to it, Steelfoot kicked the rest of his bones in the water as well.

"That should make fightin' this kid a lot easier…" Steelfoot grinned, turning his attention to Chopper, who had jumped up to the upper deck. "Now there's no one who can interfere with our battle!"

Chopper gave him a confused look, unsure of what he was saying, but he stopped when he saw Steelfoot's cutlass coming his way. He would've dodged, but it was fast enough to hit him and make him crash into the ship's steering wheel. This made Steelfoot's ship make a sharp turn to the left – the direction the ship wasn't supposed to be moving.

The captain threw Chopper off the steering wheel and moved it so it was back on course. "I'm lucky to have a ship that can go on autopilot. Makes things much easier fer me!"

He turned his attention back at Chopper and proceeded to lunge at him. A single slash and a kick from his steel foot was enough to leave Chopper wounded and ended up crashing into the mast.

"Yar har har har!" Steelfoot cackled, jumping onto the lower deck. "I can't believe ye have these strange powers, yet yer not able to stand up to me! Lemme just get rid of that stupid costume yer wearin'. Especially that captain's hat! A hat like that is much more suitable fer me!"

"N-Not a chance!" Chopper retorted, quickly getting up and kicking Steelfoot in the chest to make him crash onto the floor. Once he stood, Chopper managed to rush at him and slash at his chest many times to rip up his purple shirt. He jumped in the air afterward and performed a jump that knocked Steelfoot's skull off his body.

Realizing he had just defeated him, Chopper smiled and threw in a peace sign before exclaiming, "Victory!"

"Yar har har! Oh, I don't think so, scallywag!"

Chopper turned around and saw Steelfoot's head bouncing back to his body. Once it was attached, the captain stood up, adjusting his head so it felt right. Chopper, on the other hand, was left horrified.

"What's da matter? Ye scared of seein' someone lose his head?" Steelfoot mocked.

"N-No… That's not what's freaking me out…" Chopper trailed nervously, looking at his chest.

Steelfoot looked down and noticed blue flames inside of his ribcage. A grin now appeared on his face as he looked back at Chopper. "Ah, yes… The ghostly magic that was used to turn me into this... Ye know, there's a lot more it can do! Let me show you!"

Once he tore off his purple shirt, the flames only got bigger, and it caused Steelfoot to grow two more skeletal arms. Only these were holding two cutlasses. A cannon launcher appeared in his other hand, and he carried his pistol in his remaining free hand. Before Chopper could do anything else, Steelfoot made a giant leap onto the gaff above the sail.

"Let us finish our battle up here, ye scurvy!" hollered Steelfoot.

Chopper made a big leap onto the gaff and got in a fighting stance once he kept balance on it. He noticed Steelfoot charging at him and attempting to bring his two cutlasses down on him, but Chopper raised his cutlass and blocked the attack with ease. However, he found himself struggling a bit.

Grinning, Steelfoot opened his mouth and shot a blue fireball at Chopper to scorch him and leave him off guard. He followed up by firing a cannonball at him from his cannon launcher, which made Chopper nearly fall off the gaff.

"What? Ye can't handle me ghostly powers?!" Steelfoot scoffed, making his way over to Chopper. "Well, ye know what they say… Sometimes those with great power don't have what it takes."

Chopper regained balance and lunged at Steelfoot, hoping to kick him. Sadly, it was easily blocked by his two cutlasses, allowing him to kick Chopper while he was still in the air. However, that didn't stop Chopper from hitting him with a cannonball.

"Arrghh… So, ye wanna play that way, huh? Well, then so be it!"

Steelfoot fired a cannonball from his launcher, expecting Chopper to be struck by it. However, Chopper ended up shooting another one, causing both cannonballs to clash and create a small explosion that drove the two back to the gaff's edge.

While Chopper was the first one to move forward, Steelfoot was definitely getting ready to make his move. He tried to stab at him when he got closer, but Chopper easily dodged by jumping and landed on the flat side of Steelfoot's cutlass, which happened to be facing up. This resulted in the weapon being bent as well.

Before Steelfoot could say anything, Chopper was off the weapon and now behind him. He struck his upper back with his cutlass, making Steelfoot cringe and turn his head to face Chopper. This instantly left him off guard.

"Wh-What?!" Chopper cried. "Your head...! It…"

"Yes, me head's on backwards," Steelfoot smirked as the rest of his body turned. He threw his steel foot in Chopper's face and left him hanging on the gaff's edge. To Steelfoot's disappointment, his opponent pulled himself back up rather quickly. "Grrrr! Why won't you just die already?!"

Out of anger, Steelfoot fired another cannonball, but Chopper was easily prepared for it and managed to jump on top of it and leap off it to kick him in the face. His cannon launcher dropped from one of his hands, along with his pistol. Chopper soon threw him onto the deck with a single stab in the chest from his cutlass.

Steelfoot quickly got up and jumped back onto the gap. His purple eyes had changed to a fiery blue, and even his body was starting to become surrounded in blue, ghostly fire. He opened his mouth, and soon Chopper was scorched by a fireball.

"Yar har har har! See what happens when ye push me to me limit?!" Steelfoot cackled, noticing the burn marks now left on Chopper's body. "'Tis a shame a kid like yerself has to receive these injuries, but in the end, I hardly care! Defeatin' ye means Lord Maquano might give me an award! …Or perhaps treasure!"

Despite the injuries, Chopper tried his best to hold his own and fired another cannonball. Steelfoot easily saw it coming and used his steel foot to kick it back at him. He gasped and ducked under the cannonball, which barely touched the tip of his captain's hat. One more stomp on the gap managed to split it in half, making Chopper fall onto the deck.

Grinning, Steelfoot jumped in the air and began to throw his steel foot downward at Chopper using all the force he had. Not even a cannonball was able to stop that powerful steel foot! It only cut it in half, leaving Chopper to gape.

Despite this, Chopper did the obvious and got out of the way just in time for Steelfoot's foot to strike the deck, causing the ship to tilt back and forth a bit, while at the same time, it left his foot stuck. He struggled to pull out of the hole he made, and using full force didn't appear to work.

"Arrghh! I can't pull myself out o' this!" Steelfoot sneered, glaring down at Chopper. "Oh, yer goin' to get it now, ye fool…"

"But you're stuck," Chopper noted. "You can't hurt me…"

"Think again, matey," the captain opened his mouth, and a couple of ghostly fireballs began to come flying his way. One managed to strike Chopper and knock his Pirate ability away and into the water in the shape of a star. Chopper was left gaping as he watched it disappear. "Not so tough now, are ye?"

Chopper let out a couple of wheezes as he slowly stood up. "Oh, no… This isn't good… How am I supposed to beat him now?"

"Say yer prayers, kid!" Steelfoot shouted as he breathed more fireballs at the kid. However, rather than seeing him get scorched, Chopper ended up inhaling the fireballs to transform into Fire Chopper. "…Yar? Another power?!"

Regardless, Steelfoot spat out more fireballs, but Chopper easily destroyed them with his own, red fireballs he spat out. No matter how many times he tried to burn him, those ghostly fireballs were practically useless now.

"Arrgh! Me ghostly powers are useless!" Steelfoot snarled.

"It's over now!" Chopper declared, getting ready to charge straight at him.

"No… It ain't over yet, scallywag. A li'l punk like yerself is not goin' to bring me down! Just think about how humiliated I'd be around other pirates if I end up losin' to ye! An' that is why my final attack shall finish ye off!"

"Huh?" Before Chopper could say another word, Steelfoot opened his mouth and unleashed a large amount of ghostly fire breath at him. To stop this, he tried breathing fire back at the ghostly fire, causing it to be pushed back toward Steelfoot. However, the captain breathed more fire, and soon the large beam of flames was coming toward Chopper instead.

"Yer not goin' to win if ye try somethin' like this, matey!" scoffed Steelfoot. "It's obvious I'm winnin' this li'l struggle here!"

Chopper closed his eyes tightly and tried exhaling as hard as he could to keep the fire away from him. It seemed to be working, but he happened to notice Steelfoot having no problem breathing fire.

However, feeling behind him, there was a cannon already loaded with a cannonball aimed straight at Steelfoot. He was a bit unsure at first, but with how he was struggling at this point, he decided to place a finger on his flaming head and touch the fuse to light it up.

_"I hope this works…" _Chopper thought, stopping his fire breath and getting out of the way to avoid getting hit by the cannonball. Steelfoot's ghostly fire ended up hitting the cannon itself, including the fired cannonball, destroying them in the process.

"Yar har har har!" Steelfoot cackled. "Did ye really think I would be such a fool, boy? Me fire is more than enough to stand up to a cannon! An' ye honestly thought ye'd win this!"

Steelfoot began to breathe more fire at the boy, who tried to avoid it, but it only continued to follow him. When he tried going behind him, Steelfoot turned his head to attempt to scorch him. However, he soon remembered something.

_"Wait, I was able to eat that fire before… What would happen if I tried doing that with this power on?"_

He stopped running and turned his attention back to the ghostly fire. Opening his mouth, he started to inhale the flames until it was all gone. Upon exhaling, blue and red flames started to spew from his mouth and at Steelfoot.

"What in the…?" Before Steelfoot could react, he felt himself get engulfed by the flames, causing him to let out a scream of pain.

Chopper soon finished exhaling and started to take a few breaths, realizing he had used up a lot of energy. "I… I can't believe that…worked…"

Looking back up at Steelfoot, he had noticed he was not very scathed, with the exception of his hat and pants. "Well, little hero… Congratulations. That didn't do much to me! Wanna know why? Ye can't burn what is already dead!"

"Wha…?"

"Bein' dead, fire's not goin' to destroy me. Ye can't even destroy me either! Ghostly magic can certainly do much more than ye think!"

"Well I'm still not giving up!" Chopper declared, getting in a fighting stance once again. "I think I have an idea!"

"Go right ahead then!" Steelfoot cackled. "Hit me with yer best!"

Chopper started to charge straight at Steelfoot, but in the shape of a fireball instead. The pirate captain decided to stop cackling and watch the boy charge straight at him.

"Wait… Hold on a sec… If he's chargin' at me this fast… Then… Uh oh…"

A large explosion emitted from the ship, causing many of Steelfoot's skeletal body parts to get sent flying everywhere and into the water. Once the smoke cleared, all Chopper saw remaining was Steelfoot's head, as well as his steel foot still stuck in the ground. The Power Star Piece was lying beside the fallen captain.

"Is it over?" Chopper gaped, looking down at Steelfoot's head.

"Arrghh…" Steelfoot moaned, opening his eyes to find out what happened to him. "Yargh?! Me body's gone! Where did me pieces go?"

"You're still alive?"

"'Course I am! Ye cannot destroy what is already dead, ye know… However, it looks like yer attack blew off the rest of me body, an' without that Power Star Piece, it doesn't look like I can do much."

Chopper was left confused. "What do you mean?"

"A Power Star Piece can do more than ye think. If only it was in me hands…"

Steelfoot's head attempted to bounce over to the Power Star Piece, but Chopper quickly reacted and rushed to the piece. Before Steelfoot could even bite the object, Chopper managed to swoop it off the ground.

"Ye scurvy! Gimme that!" Steelfoot hissed.

"No! I need this!" Chopper retorted, shaking Steelfoot's head off, who was grabbing a hold of his foot. A small amount of fire breath was enough to stop him and allow him to kick the skull away. Afterward, Chopper removed the ability, no longer desiring it at the moment.

"An' what makes somethin' like that so important?" Steelfoot snarled, giving Chopper a glare from across the deck.

"I need it to stop Maquano. I heard he murdered my daddy, and he also destroyed my home planet… I think with these, I can get back at him. …Hopefully."

"So yer avengin' yer parents? An' what makes ye think yer able to win if ye manage to get all of 'em?" Steelfoot questioned. "Sure, ye managed to beat me, but I'm like plankton compared to Lord Maquano? Yer never goin' to beat him!"

"Well, I'm still going to try… And there's nothing you can do about it."

"Fine then. I'll let ye get obliterated by him. I can't do anythin' now anyway. However, don't think this will be the end of me, scurvy. When I find all of me body parts, yer gonna be history when we meet again!"

With that, Steelfoot's head leaped out of the ship and into the water, eager to find all of his missing body parts. Chopper let out a sigh of relief as he closed his eyes and listened to the calm waves. Opening them, he took a look at the Power Star Piece in his right hand.

Knowing what he had to do, he took out the two other pieces that were formed together and let the third piece form into it. A flash emitted from the broken Power Star as three pieces now appeared.

"It still looks a bit weird, but not as bad…" Chopper commented, putting the broken Power Star away. "So where am I supposed to go next?"

Considering that the ship continued to move on its own, Chopper decided to see what was up ahead. There was land, but there happened to be a lot of dark green in the area, as well as a couple of trees.

"Is this where the ship is going?" Chopper wondered. "Well, if that's the case, then I should explore that area. Maybe another Power Star Piece is somewhere there!"

Smiling, Chopper decided to relax on the ship and let the ship arrive at its destination. Unfortunately, he had not noticed the water around him starting to change from a beautiful, clear blue to a toxic, light purple.

* * *

**I don't think this chapter should've taken me this long to write. It was just me being lazy, I guess. But I'm not going to complain too much. **

**About the whole thing with Chopper being able to inhale Steelfoot's fire breath... That was a reference to the first episode of the Kirby anime where Kirby ended up inhaling the fire being spewed at him and breathing it back at his opponent.**

**This world started off a little slow with the underwater section in the first chapter, but I do believe it got a lot better from there. Personally, I liked it more than the second world, and the boss himself was probably more interesting. Plus, pirates! :P**

**I think that last sentence should give you guys a bit of an idea what the next area might be...**


	18. Project MC

Chapter 18: Project MC

Maquano was left angered by Zero's escape from the dark world. He thought it would've come to great use, but his thoughts were dead wrong. Since not much was going on in the castle, he chose to leave and explore the giant jungles of Clara. It was one of the few areas he had not fully explored through.

"Hmmmm… I never thought this jungle would be so massive…" Maquano trailed, stepping on a few small twigs along the way. Many of the inhabitants in the jungle were rather large on their own. However, most of the wildlife consisted mostly of deadly plants. In fact, a blue plant with razor sharp teeth tried to chomp him down, but it didn't take the demon knight too long to draw his sword and cut off its stem.

"This place feels too empty. I was expecting some intelligent beings to be here… All I see are savage plants."

Maquano placed his sword on his back and continued his way through the jungle. He took notice of all the gigantic trees and blades of grass that seemed to tower over him. Of course, there was much smaller grass on the floor, but that was nothing important. What mattered the most was that he would destroy this planet and soon find another to destroy.

But before he could continue further, he stopped at a strange-looking house that had the appearance of a mushroom. "What's this? I never thought I'd see a house in these jungles, especially a mushroom type…"

He noticed a mailbox right near the house, and on it, the name "Chopper" was labeled in light green.

"So this is that boy's house? So that scoundrel who brought him off Mondrao also managed to find him a house." Maquano said, balling one of his hands into a fist. "Well, let's see how this boy likes it when I obliterate his house!"

Conjuring up some dark magic in his hands, his eyes were about to flash until he heard his communicator go off. Groaning, his stopped his magic and took out his communicator.

"What is it?"

_"L-Lord Maquano…"_ a voice moaned from the communicator. _"I'm…sorry fer losin'…"_

"Huh… So he managed to beat you in a fight. Steelfoot, you disappoint me, just like Trinado and Stoneard. I granted you those ghostly powers to help you fight, and even still some kid wins anyway!"

_"But Lord Maquano… You can always help fix meself up… All of my body parts are somewhere in the ocean. Can't ye just use yer magic to get them all and help turn me back to me ol' self? I can always help ye…"_

"I'm not doing that for you," Maquano replied coldly. "My guess is that you want to stay in my castle in some area and wait for him, just like Trinado and Stoneard were begging me to do for them. Sorry, but I'm not a big fan of boss rushes. Go tell that to that company who has a blue robot for their mascot. They love those."

_"I'd prefer to be back to meself, though," _Steelfoot mentioned. _"I do not enjoy bein' just a head."_

"Well, you can come back to me once you find all of your pieces of your own. Same thing goes to both Trinado and Stoneard."

_"But I'm just cut in half!" _Trinado whined.

_"Stoneard in many pieces…" _Stoneard trailed.

Maquano ended up face palming. _"Oh, great… These guys are on the same communicator?" _Despite this, he spoke up. "Well then go fix yourself them, because in quite honesty, I don't need you people anymore. The other people who hold a Power Star Piece are much stronger than you people anyway."

"_What? You think a fourteen year old girl is stronger than us?!" _Trinado guffawed. _"You are one strange demon…"_

Maquano ignored them and put away his communicator. He looked back at Chopper's house before shaking his head. "That house isn't worth my time. I have better things to do."

He made a big dash through the jungle until he found himself in a more open area with a pond nearby. Maquano could see the sun shining down on him, forcing him to cover his eyes from the glare.

_"I'd prefer it if this world had more of a dark appearance…"_

Maquano took notice of some Leafions that were lingering around on the field. They ended up bowing down to him once their eyes took notice of him. The demon knight ignored them and approached the leg, kicking a few Leafions away in the process.

"This jungle is large, yet there's an open area like this with a large pond… Very interesting…" Maquano pondered.

_"Lord Maquano! Lord Maquano!"_

"Oh, what now!?" Maquano roared, taking out his communicator. "What is it, Camikon?!"

_"It's done!"_

"Done? What the heck are you talking about?!"

_"Remember when I spoke to you about making something that could possibly match Chopper? Well, the technicians managed to finish creating the robot! We like to call it 'Project MC'."_

"Oh, you mean that?" a sinister look had now appeared under Maquano's helmet. "Heh heh heh… Now I'm interested in seeing this! I'm coming back to the castle right away! You better have it ready to show me!"

_"Lord Maquano, there's just one problem…"_

"I don't care about the problem, Camikon! I wish to see this robot! This could possibly be the thing that will defeat Chopper once and for all!"

_"But…"_

Maquano had already turned off his communicator and teleported out of the jungle.

* * *

**Maquano's Castle-**

The demon knight had teleported in one of the hallways of his castle, which contained a dark red carpet on the floor and dark red walls and ceiling. The door in front of him was the engineer room for the engineers that build the ships and other products.

"Lord Maquano!" Camikon exclaimed, flying into the hallway on his black broomstick. "That… That was rather quick!"

"It doesn't take me that long to teleport, Camikon," Maquano said harshly. "Now let me see this Project MC thing."

"Well, Lord Maquano, you see…" the old wizard began to sweat. "It's kind of more of a prototype. We still have plenty of more ideas thrown into it that might help surpass that boy."

"Does it work just fine, though? And does it still surpass him?"

"Well… Yeah…"

"Then the project should be fine as it is. I want to see it. Now."

"Ummmmm… As you wish, Lord Maquano." Camikon flew up to the door and used his wand to open it. Maquano followed the old wizard inside to see many Tartara Technicians wearing goggles and leather gloves. They were smaller than Tartara Soldiers, but bigger than the grunts. There were long tables with many different components and a few unfinished ships."

"This way," the wizard said, pointing to a door to the right. Maquano opened the door into a small room with a yellow light shining down on a capsule in the middle of the room. Other than that, most of the room was dark.

"So, the creation is inside this capsule, am I correct?" Maquano asked.

"Yes, it is, but… Well, the Tartara Technicians said this was a prototype and that they would come up with new ideas to improve it."

"Camikon… Do I have to repeat myself?"

"But Lord Maquano, back in the old days…"

Maquano grabbed the wizard by his robe and held him up. "Camikon, I'm your ruler! You will do as I say this instant or else I'm going to find a replacement for your position!"

"A…replacement?" Camikon gaped. "That's absolutely unacceptable! Only I am capable of nagging you about pointless things! This is suddenly reminding me of that one point in the year-"

Maquano dropped the wizard with an annoyed expression. "Just…shut up. I really don't want to hear you going off on another one of those…"

"But you must understand the consequences, Lord Maquano," the old wizard noted, standing back up. "Prototypes mean that they are not finished. There's no chance that it will…"

"Actually, it's all right to bring him out," the two turned to face a Tartara Technician. "We've already looked over him. He should be good enough to go out. Surely he will be able to defeat that boy with ease."

"See, Camikon? Now let's get this thing out of the capsule." Maquano stated, aiming the palm of his hand at the capsule."

"We have a much better idea, Lord Maquano," the technician stated. "You may come out now, **Metal Chopper**!"

The eyes on the object inside were soon glowing green, and an explosion emitted from the robot, destroying the capsule. He used his jetpack to slowly land on the floor. Getting a better glimpse of the robot, Maquano noticed his shape greatly resembled Chopper, along with the antennas. His body was silver, as well as his feet, arms and hands that contained sharp fingers. He also had small, green shoulder pads and a silver jetpack.

"Hmmmmm… Yes, he does look a bit similar to Chopper." Maquano commented, seeing the robot look up at him.

"GREETINGS, LORD MAQUANO," Metal Chopper spoke up in a robotic tone.

"And it speaks too? Interesting…"

"Technically, it's a he," the Tartara Technician stated. "That kid's a boy, and it would make sense to refer to him as a 'he'."

"…Fine then," Maquano looked down at Metal Chopper. "So, Metal Chopper… I have a little request for you."

"WHAT IS YOUR REQUEST, LORD MAQUANO?" Metal Chopper asked.

"Find Chopper and destroy him! You were designed to even surpass Chopper, so you should be able to have no problem."

"MISSION ACCEPTED. I WILL FIND CHOPPER AND TEAR HIM APART. HE WILL BE NOTHING BUT A LITTLE PUDDLE WHEN I'M DONE WITH HIM."

Metal Chopper launched out of the castle by crashing through the ceiling without receiving any serious injuries. Maquano looked up at the hole in the ceiling, along with the other ceilings he crashed through with a pleased expression.

"Excellent! Chopper will be no match for this creation!" he cackled, while Camikon guffawed over the hole.

"Lord Maquano! He… He crashed through many floors and ceilings in the castle! This will take forever to fix!"

* * *

**So we already have an introduction to a new character to this story... Yeah, if you guys read some of my other stories and recognize this character, you might notice he's a bit...different in this one. We also discover that both Trinado and Stoneard aren't necessarily dead, but are not likely going to be used by Maquano.**

**Next time, we'll be seeing where Chopper heads to, along with a few other interesting things in the mix!**


	19. Poisonous Wonders

Chapter 19: Poisonous Wonders

The ship had started to get closer to the island up ahead, but Chopper was no longer paying attention to the island. What left him more surprised was the ocean itself. No longer was it the clear, sparkly blue that it usually was, but now it had started to transform into translucent, poisonous purple. Small amounts of purple steam were slowly rising from the water.

"What happened to the water?" Chopper wondered, staring at the poisonous waters. "Why is it so purple and hard to see through?"

Before he could say anything, the ship came to a sudden halt when it ended up bumping into shallow water. Looking at the front, Chopper discovered that he had arrived to the island.

"Oh! I'm here already!" Chopper jumped off the ship and landed on the green grass. Afterward, he headed into what appeared to be a forest with dark green leaves and very little sunlight that was shining down.

Up ahead, he noticed a Darkling with light purple eyes and bulb. It spotted him and fired a poisonous spell his way. He quickly jumped out of the way and jumped on its head to destroy it.

"This place is strange... It almost reminds me of the jungle, but it's not giant. Maybe this place might not be so bad?"

He sped onward, passing by a few trees along the way. He ended up finding a river with the same poisonous water as he saw before. There was a vine hanging from a tree over the river, giving Chopper an idea. He leaped for the vine, swung across the river and landed safely on the other side.

However, taking a deep breath, he ended up letting out a cough with the poisonous smoke clouding the forest near the water. His eyes widened as he covered his mouth.

_"What's going on here?" _Chopper thought as his face was slightly turning a light purple. _"I'm not feeling so good... What's going on?"_

He tried to run faster through the forest, but because of the poison that had now infected him, he was moving much slower than usual. Two Darklings had caught their eyes on Chopper and noticed how poisoned he was.

"Why do I feel so sick?" Chopper moaned. "And how can I stop it? My mommy would usually help take care of me when I became sick before... But she's not here..."

Snickering, the two Darklings flew over to Chopper, and rather than hit him with their spells, they chose to play around with him by punching and smacking him around like a rag doll. Chopper tried swatting them away, but the poison had greatly weakened him and prevented him from fighting back.

"Dude, this is fun!" the first Darkling laughed. "But how come we're not destroying him?"

"'Cause he can't do a thing to fight back!" the second Darkling answered harshly. "What's the fun in just destroying him when you can't see him suffer long enough!"

"Oh... Now I see!" Both Darklings continued to smack Chopper around, while he could do nothing about it. He tried covering his face, but even then he was too weak from the poison.

Soon enough, he was already on the ground.

"Well that was easy... OK, let's just finish the job." the second Darkling raised its right disembodied hand and conjured up a magic spell. However, some rustling could be heard from one of the bushes, causing it to stop. "Uh oh... I think someone's coming!"

The two Darklings quickly scurried away, leaving Chopper to basically die on his own. Chopper slowly got a glimpse of the figure that was approaching him before he slowly lost conscience.

* * *

**?-**

"Unnnnnghhh..."

Chopper slowly opened his eyes and noticed he was no longer outside, but in a large hut. The bed he was lying on was made of wood, while the blanket was made of leaves. Sitting up, Chopper noticed a grassy floor and a table made from tree bark. There was also a fireplace with a pot hanging over it.

"Where... Where am I?" Chopper wondered as he coughed. "Ohh... I don't feel so good..."

The front door opened, and a figure slightly bigger than Chopper covered in leaves with yellow eyes and light green hands and feet walked inside. He took a look at Chopper and was surprised.

"Oh... You're awake!" he gawked. "...Actually, just in time!"

He waddled over to the fireplace and scooped up a drink from the pot. Pouring it in a cup, he handed it to Chopper. "Drink this. It'll help cure you of that poison."

Chopper took the cup and gulped it down as quick as he could. Soon, the purple on his face began to fade away and made him cough out a small amount of poisonous smoke. He was feeling much better.

"Gee... Thanks!" Chopper smiled. "Who are you?"

"Err... Me?" the bush person gawked, pointing at himself. "Well... My name's Bushwert! ...However, most people who know me call me 'Dirty Bushy'."

"Dirty Bushy?" the boy took a look at Bushwert's leafy face with confusion. "You don't look so dirty to me..."

"Well, when you get to know me a li'l more, I'm sure you might understand... Eh heh heh..."

Chopper got off the bed and noticed one of the drawers were open. "Oh! Maybe I can read a little something!"

"Wait! No! That's my..." Bushwert was unfortunately too late as Chopper had already picked up the magazine. He opened it and took a look on it, though his expression was mixed between confusion and sadness.

"What's with these girls here? Are they wearing bathing suits? If that's all they have here, they must be poor if that's all they can afford... That's sad..."

"They ain't for you!" Bushwert quickly snatched the magazine and put it away. "Now then... Since I helped you get better, you got to do something for handsome ol' me in return! And don't worry, it's nothing difficult."

"Do something for you? What is it that you need?" Chopper wondered.

Bushwert let out a little chuckle as he grinned. "Well... I was thinking...eh heh heh heh...if you would, y'know, go out and find me a cute girl to come here. I would very much appreciate it, little boy!"

"A girl?!" Chopper gasped in horror. "But... But... I could never do that! They're gross, and they carry cooties that'll infect you and force you to stay with them forever!"

"Say what now? You kidding me?"

"It's true! A girl was always trying to get close to me in Daycare two years ago and even kissed me! It was horrible! HORRIBLE!"

"Now now, little boy," Bushwert said, patting the crying boy on his head. "You can tell mister Dirty Bushy here the whole problem."

"O-OK..." Chopper trailed. "But it's kind of a long story... It all started when I first went to Daycare..."

* * *

**Two years ago-**

Despite not wanting to go to Daycare, Chopper's parents refused to let him stay with them when they went to work and left the building, leaving him to go into the room with a large mat on the floor. There were many toys to play with, and there were some depictions of children playing and holding hands in a circle on the walls. The person watching the children welcomed Chopper and let him play with anyone. He simply went over to the blocks and picked one up.

Unfortunately, he didn't have much time when two yellow boys with yellow and orange heads wearing blue jackets approached him with smirks.

"Well, if it isn't a new kid!" the first bully chuckled. "Listen here, little kid, we don't like newbies in this place! This is our turf, y'hear?"

"But... This is the only place I can be..." Chopper trailed in fright, holding a blue block with the letter J on it. The second bully snatched it from him and began to toss and catch it in his hands.

"Well too bad for you, new kid! You come to our Daycare, you have to obey us! The strong emerge, and the weak fall, just like you will!"

Chopper wanted to reply, but the second bully had thrown the block at his face, causing him to whimper.

"Awwww... You gonna cry? Why don't we get the others to laugh at you while you do that?"

The two bullies began to laugh at Chopper's whimpering, which only made things worse for him. However, there was someone else over by the corner who had taken notice of Chopper being bullied. She was reddish pink with reddish hot pink hair that was below her shoulders, light purple highlights on her bangs, and a pink hoodie with a red trim on her sleeves that were too long for her. A red heart was in the center of the hoodie, and she wore red shorts and red, comfy boots.

She took a look at Chopper and smiled, but seeing the bullies did not make her happy. She stood up and began to make her way to them.

"Look at you! Already you're crying! Such an easy person to victimize!" the first bully laughed, watching Chopper now cry. "Come on, everyone! Laugh with me!"

"Hey! Leave him alone!" the bullies stopped laughing and turned their attention to the two-year-old girl giving them a glare. "You heard me, you bullies!"

"Oh, look what we have here! It's little Heartsy!" the second bully chuckled. "So, how do you like your name? We always liked making fun of it, along with your pink appearance!"

Heartsy's angry look only got worse when she picked up a red block. "You shouldn't make fun of someone based on their name or if they're new. Now you leave him alone or I'll make you!"

"Pbbbbth! What're you going to do about it? You're a _girl_!"

Heartsy threw the block at the first bully, knocking him onto the floor. The other bully gasped and grabbed his friend. Afraid of getting hit, he ran away while dragging his friend. Thankfully, the adult who watched the children didn't get a glimpse of this.

With them away from Chopper, Heartsy turned to him with a smile and sat down next to him. "It's OK. They're gone."

Chopper stopped crying and opened his eyes to get a glimpse of the girl. "Oh... Ummmmm... Hi there. Did you get those bullies away from me?"

"Mmmmmm-hmmmmm!" Heartsy nodded, scooting closer to him. "I don't think they'll be bugging you for a while, so don't worry about them. By the way, my name's Heartsy. What's yours?"

"I'm... I'm Chopper. How come you helped me?"

"I had a bit of experience from those bullies before, and seeing you get bullied like that made me feel bad. I don't think you deserved to get bullied like that. Plus, I...kinda like you."

"Like me?" the boy gawked, confused with her comment.

"Well, you're cute, and you don't appear to be a mean person. ...Do you wanna maybe play with me?"

"Ummmmm... OK." Chopper replied with a smile. "But, I don't know how to play..."

Heartsy couldn't help but let out a small giggle. She kinda found that a bit cute and funny. "Playing isn't anything hard, Choppy! Stacking blocks is something we can play!"

"Oh... OK then. That doesn't sound so hard." Chopper grabbed one block and put it on the floor, while Heartsy began to stack a few other blocks. The blocks contained the letters M, E, C, H, and O. There was also a green C block and a pink H block as well that Heartsy put next to each other.

They even played a few other games and spelled a few other words out as well. Eventually they went to another game called arm wrestling, which Chopper was unfortunate to lose, but he still tried each time despite not doing very well.

"You're a very nice person, Choppy," Heartsy smiled. "I'm kind of glad I got to know you!"

"Same with you, Heartsy," Chopper replied before pausing. "Wait... Why did you call me Choppy?"

"Because it sounds so cute!" she giggled, getting closer to Chopper and wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "You're probably the best friend I've ever had..."

"Huh? Why are you grabbing me?" the boy asked in confusion. Looking above the girl, he noticed red hearts appearing over her head. Her eyes were closed as she pulled him in closer, leaving Chopper a little more confused. "What are those things that are floating over your head?"

"Heartsy! Your parents are here to pick you up!"

Realizing this, Heartsy let go of Chopper and stood up. "Oh... I guess I have to go now, Choppy... Hopefully I get to see you here again! Bye!"

She walked over to the Daycare's exit, leaving Chopper to finally stand up, but not before hearing snickering coming from the bullies.

"The new kid's got himself a girlfriend!" the first bully laughed.

Chopper turned to them and gave them a glare. "Hey! Don't make fun of me!"

"Chopper and Heartsy sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"But I'm not sitting in a tree with her... And what are you talking about?"

"Don't you know about the disease girls carry?" the second bully asked.

"Disease?" Chopper gawked, now a bit frightened. "Girls carry a disease?"

"It's called cooties! And it's a very dangerous disease that'll force you to live with them forever and leave you weakened! They give it to you when they kiss you. And I'm betting that she would do that to you!"

"C-Cooties?" he gaped, his eyes widening in the process. "Eep! I don't like the sound of that! And if Heartsy really wants me to give me cooties... Eek!"

"Chopper! Your parents are here!"

Hearing that voice, Chopper turned to the exit, where he saw his parents waiting for him. He smiled as he ran up to the two and quickly hugged them.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Chopper cried.

"Hey, Chopper! How was your first year of Daycare?" Tonberria asked.

"Well... I ran into some bullies, but then a girl came and helped me. Though, I think she left."

"You mean that pink little girl?" Toalune wondered. "Dude! Tonberria! They're still here, you know!"

Indeed she was. Right outside of Daycare, Heartsy was with her parents. The father was red and had sunglasses and wore a suit. The mother was white and wore a purple dress and had long, bleach blonde hair. They were around Toalune and Tonberria's size.

When they had reached them, Heartsy had noticed Chopper and smiled. "Choppy! You're going home already? See, Mom and Dad? This was the boy I was talking about!"

"I see..." her mother, Cherin, trailed. "Perhaps he'd be interested in coming over on a play date?"

"I'm sure Chopper would love to," Tonberria assured. "She's probably the first friend he really had in a while. Wouldn't you like that, Chopper?"

"But... Mommy..." Chopper trailed, seeing Heartsy smile at him and remembering the cooties. "I don't think I wanna!"

"I think it's a nice idea for you, Chopper. Considering that you enjoyed playing with her earlier, going to her house to play doesn't sound like a bad idea at all. ...Say, aren't you that actress Cherin? I thought I recognized you from before..."

"Well I didn't," Toalune said. "But seriously, going to a girl's house, Chopper? Yeah! That's the way to go, son!"

"We don't have work tomorrow, so it might be all right for him to come over and see our daughter," the father, Peard, stated. "I think it would be rather nice for her to hang out with someone."

"Thanks, Mom and Dad!" Heartsy squealed, grabbing Chopper in a hug, leaving him a bit scared. "I can't wait for you to come over, Choppy!"

"Awww... Isn't that adorable, Toalune?" Tonberria smiled before looking back at her husband, who was reading some manga. "Toalune!"

She snatched the comic book from Toalune, who complained, "Awwww! No, c'mon, Tonberria! I was getting to something good! Why can't you let me get to the best parts!"

After going home, Chopper now had to worry about seeing her again tomorrow. Perhaps she wouldn't give him cooties? Were those bullies just bluffing? Then again, all of that could have been true, making Chopper worry some more. What made things worse for him was that he had trouble sleeping during the night. That, and Toalune getting scolded by Tonberria for watching something on the internet.

The next day came by, and Chopper was certainly not looking forward to it. He had hoped he would get lost with Tonberria on their way to Heartsy's house, but that was not the case. They were soon at the house, which appeared to be orange with a red roof and a yellow door. Chopper tried to pull his hand out of his mother's grasps and tried his best to run, but it hardly did much. Even when he got out of her grasps, he ended up tripping, leading to his mother to go pick him up.

"Chopper, what's wrong with you? Don't you want to play with your little friend?" Tonberria asked, now carrying him.

"But I don't want to! She carries cooties!" Chopper complained.

"Chopper, there's no such things as cooties. That's all just a little myth children always speak about. And besides, Heartsy is only a friend. You usually play games on play dates. There's nothing to worry about."

"A-Are you sure?"

"Of course, Chopper," Tonberria assured, putting him down as they reached the house. She rang the doorbell, and Cherin opened the door.

"Ah, you're here! Very nice!" Cherin smiled. Hearing the door open, Heartsy quickly saw Chopper and smiled.

"Hi, Choppy!" Heartsy greeted sweetly.

"Ummmm... Hi, Heartsy..." Chopper trailed nervously.

"Have fun, Chopper!" Tonberria said as she began to leave. Before Chopper could go after her, he felt his hand get grabbed by Heartsy's, and soon he was dragged straight into the house. None of his objections could be heard, unfortunately.

They were soon in Heartsy's room, and all Chopper could see from it was that there was a red carpet on the floor, and the walls were pink. Both were colors he wasn't a big fan of. It felt the exact opposite of his room! There were even small paintings of a few flowers on the walls too, kind of like a typical little girl's room. The bed was red with a heart-shaped pillow, and a few pictures were on the dresser with Heartsy and her parents. One thing for sure was that it made Chopper feel incredibly uncomfortable.

"This is my room, Choppy! Isn't it pretty?" Heartsy asked sweetly, while Chopper could only look at the room in horror. He noticed a box of dolls to the side, but he also noticed another small box containing a baseball bat and glove. Perhaps not everything here was too girly for his tastes? That is, if he thought this was considered girly.

"Ummmmmmmmmm…" Chopper trailed, unsure of how to react. "…I guess?"

"You're the first boy who's ever come into my room, and I'm glad you were first! I already have some activities we can do together!"

"You do?"

"Mmmmm-hmmmm! Say, do you like coloring?"

"Sure…"

"Then maybe we can do a bit of that," Heartsy grabbed some paper and crayons and put them on the floor near them. Chopper took some crayons and tried to create something such as a bowl. Of course, being only two, he was not doing a very good job at it. He drew himself as well, but it was, of course, of bad quality. Heartsy had made a picture too, but it was of the same quality as Chopper's. She smiled as she showed him the picture, which had the two holding hands.

"What's that?" Chopper asked.

"It's you and me holding hands," the girl replied. "Except here, we're at a wedding together getting married!"

Chopper looked at the picture in confusion and nervousness. "You mean we're going to eat a wedding and marry?"

"No, Choppy. Wedding and marriage is not a food." An idea sparked in Heartsy's mind that made her blush and giggle. "…But I'm willing to show you!"

They both stood up, while Heartsy grabbed Chopper's hands. "We both say 'I do' when we're asked to marry each other, and then the two are supposed to kiss. I'll demonstrate!"

She leaned toward Chopper and puckered up, while Chopper's eyes widened in horror. "I don't like this game!"

"You just have to put your lips on mine and that's how the game is finished!" Heartsy giggled. "Don't be shy!"

"But… I really don't like the idea!" Chopper cried, remembering the cooties once again and quickly running to the corner of the room to cover his face. "Can't we play something else?"

"Oh, OK…" Heartsy looked a bit disappointed at first, but she just remembered something. "Hey, Choppy! I just remembered something! Next week is my birthday, and I'm inviting some people to my party! I'd really like it if you came to it… It would make me really happy."

"A party? I don't know…"

"Please?"

"OK…" Chopper trailed, receiving a hug from Heartsy, who also thanked him in the process.

The rest of the play date lasted for about three hours, and soon Chopper's mother came back to pick him up. Cherin had mentioned the party Heartsy was having next week for her birthday, and Tonberria thought it would be wonderful idea for Chopper to go to the party. Chopper, however, was a bit nervous, especially after Heartsy tried to kiss him in their little game. Telling her mother didn't appear to do much either as they went back home.

February 14th quickly came by, and Chopper was being taken to the party by both her parents. He tried objecting, but once again, they didn't listen.

When they had finally reached the house, they were invited in, and Heartsy saw Chopper and was looking just as excited as before. Chopper started to shake nervously as she noticed the red hearts appear over her head.

"Hi, Choppy!" Heartsy greeted sweetly.

"It's OK, Chopper! There's nothing to worry about!" Tonberria assured, slowly pushing Chopper over to the girl. "Go on, give her the present!"

"H-Happy b-birthday…" Chopper stammered, giving her the present. Heartsy smiled and gave Chopper a hug in return.

"You really didn't need to do that, Choppy. There's really only one thing I want for my birthday… But let's save that for another time! We're playing 'Pin the Tail on the Monird'!"

She grabbed his hand and began to drag him into the living room, while Tonberria and Toalune watched them go.

"Isn't it great that Chopper found a new friend at the Daycare?" Tonberria smiled. "It's so nice for Chopper to be making new friends!"

"Yeah, that sounds awesome! Especially since his new friend is a girl!" Toalune smirked, recalling something in his mind. "Oh! I bet it'll be like that one anime video I saw on the internet where a guy goes to a girl's party, and they go somewhere private and-"

"TOALUNE!"

"Aw, c'mon, Tonberria! It was awesome! You would've loved it!"

Meanwhile, in the living room, Chopper was pinning the tail on the Monird with a blindfold on, but rather than getting it in the right place, he put the tail on the picture's face. Taking off the blindfold, he couldn't help but giggle.

"It's got a tail on its face!" Chopper pointed out.

They had gone to hitting the piñata next. All of the children damaged the piñata, but Heartsy ended up breaking it and letting out candy in the end. Many children dove after it, but Chopper had only gotten two pieces of candy.

"Here, Choppy. You can have some of mine!" Heartsy smiled, giving him some candy. Chopper nervously took the candy and put it in his little goodie bag. Hearsty had taken some chocolate out and ate it. "Did you know that chocolate is one of my favorite things to eat? They're very sweet and tasty!"

"Oh, well I don't know what I like. Just…stuff."

The party moved into the dining room, where the party guests sang their happy birthdays to Heartsy and ate the chocolate icing cake. It was a matter of seconds before the cake was done, and soon the party guests were leaving afterward. Chopper was about to leave when he heard his parents show up, but Heartsy stopped him.

"Wait, don't go just yet!" Heartsy cried, making Chopper turn to her. "I…wanna know what you got me first!"

"OK," Chopper replied, unsure of what to say as Heartsy took the present he gave her and opened it. Inside was a red, plastic baseball bat with the name "Heartsy" horribly written on it.

"You got me a baseball bat? That was very sweet, Choppy!" Heartsy squealed. "How did you know I like baseball?"

"Ummmmm… I noticed you had some baseball stuff in your room, so I decided to get you a bat. It's one I was given, but I never liked baseball too much, so I gave it to you."

"Thanks, Choppy… I love it!" Heartsy put the bat down and hugged Chopper. "…Remember what I said about me wanting really one thing for my birthday?"

"Yeah?" Chopper replied, being let go by the girl. She held onto his hands, making him feel scared again.

"It's you, Choppy. You're really the only one I wanted to see on my birthday. You're just a very kind boy who didn't deserve to be bullied by those terrible people, and you're also really cute! Honestly… I think I really like you."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll show you," Heartsy leaned toward Chopper and kissed him on the lips. She felt a warm feeling in her heart, while Chopper's eyes widened in horror as he tried to free himself of her kiss. When she finally let go, she looked away from him and blushed. "Tee hee… I really liked that, Choppy."

"GROSS!" Chopper cried, making Heartsy turn and see Chopper cry in horror. "I've got cooties!"

He covered his face as he heard some of the children around him laugh at him. His face was red, and now his mouth no longer felt pure of the "disease". When his parents had come inside, Chopper quickly ran up to them.

"What's wrong, Chopper?" Tonberria asked, noticing him crying.

"Heartsy kissed me!" Chopper cried. "I've got cooties!"

"Wait, she kissed you?" Toalune gawked. "…Way to go, son! Already you got your first kiss from a girl! Way earlier than I did!"

Groaning, Tonberria picked her son up and carried him out of the house. Heartsy could only watch as the boy of her dreams was slowly out of her sight. She was a bit saddened, but she realized she would see him tomorrow. But still, the kiss she gave him was much better than she thought.

"I hope to see you soon, Choppy..."

* * *

**Present day-**

"…And that's what happened," Chopper finished, remembering the horrors of her lips touching his. "It was almost like a nightmare to me."

"Pbbbbbbbth! Kid, there's no such thing as cooties! It's all just a big lie! Plus, you should be lucky to get a girl then!"

"It's not funny! And I don't want to spend my whole life with someone! It would be the end of my…" Chopper paused for a moment when he realized something. "Oh… I don't think she's around anymore, just like the rest of my people…"

A sad look appeared on his face, which made Bushwert curious. "What's wrong, kid? Something bothering you?"

"Despite that, she was probably my only friend…" Chopper slowly looked up with an angry look. "Maquano is going to pay!"

He was about to run out of the hut, but Bushwert grabbed him. "Hold on there! You can't go out there if you can't survive the poison! I've got a little something that might give you a hand with that anyway."

Bushwert pulled out a small vitamin and tossed it into Chopper's gloved hand. "Eat that, and the poison won't sicken you. …Of course, it won't protect you from the poisonous water. It's more the radiation. It'll help you find me a lucky girl too!"

"What? No! I have more important things to do!" Chopper retorted, eating the vitamin. "Such as avenging my parents and my friend by getting the Power Star Pieces!"

"But…" Before Bushwert could finish, Chopper had already taken off. He walked outside and noticed how fast Chopper was moving. "Oh, gee… Well, so much for that. Better get back to my magazines! Hehehehehe!"

When Chopper had left the hut, he noticed the many trees around him, but there was no sign on any poison water, nor were there any poisonous clouds around. Perhaps this was a different area to where he was before?

Running up a tree and landing on the branch, he tried to see if he could get a better look through the area. He heard some noises coming from the bushes, and out came two purple jewels with poison, bug-like wings and at least one eye. Most of them were shaped like diamonds. These were identified as Jewelites.

One Jewelite discovered Chopper and began to shoot a small, purple laser at him. He gasped and jumped off the branch and jumped on the first Jewelite's head. Sadly, it didn't appear to do too much, leading him to inhale a beam coming from another Jewelite's eye to gain the Beam ability. With it, he managed to eradicate the same Jewelite that gave him the ability, followed by charging up some power in his wand to fire a yellow orb of energy at the other Jewelite to finish it off.

He ran off ahead through the forest and discovered the area he once was before he became unconscious. No Darklings were in sight, but Chopper didn't care. He ran beside the poisonous river and jumped over a few rocks in his way and spun around a few trees to launch himself even further. It almost felt like his Beam ability's hat would fall off.

Before Chopper could proceed further, he stopped when he saw another poisonous river in front of him. Not only that, but there were two other Jewelites that were floating over the water. Chopper looked for a bridge, but found none. Instead, he jumped on top of one of the Jewelites and managed to bounce off its head and land on the other side.

The Jewelites started to shoot lasers at him, but Chopper managed to get away in time and fire at least one charged beam shot to eliminate one of the Jewelites. Up ahead, he discovered what appeared to be a stone bridge going over a larger poisonous river.

"Ooh! This might be great for me to run!" Chopper smiled, getting closer to the bridge. "And this bridge is long enough for me to run across! I might like this world if I get to move quickly!"

Once he had gotten onto the bridge, he had heard the bridge shake a bit until he noticed the beginning section break off by a giant, pink jewel-like caterpillar creature with horns on its head and three eyes with eyelashes. Chopper gaped at the size of the Giant Jewelar, which was plowing its way through the bridge toward him.

Chopper quickly ran on ahead on the bridge, easily outrunning the Giant Jewelar. After looking back at the enemy, he noticed a warning sign up ahead and saw one section of the bridge at a slightly higher elevation. He would've jumped over it, but his jump was too late, causing him to trip and allow the Giant Jewelar to catch up. Chopper quickly pulled himself together and made a huge dash just as soon as the jewel-like caterpillar could even catch him.

"This is like that giant sea monster all over again!" Chopper cried, jumping over another small section of the bridge up ahead. Thankfully, he was starting to get the hang of things and managed to get across the bridge, while the Giant Jewelar had crashed into a tree nearby.

Chopper stopped and turned to the dazed Giant Jewelar to stick his tongue out at it before running on ahead. He ended up finding a pit with some poisonous water, along with a few trees close by. It was a bit of a jump, so Chopper decided to use the trees to his advantage and jump off them to get across. That was when he found a chest nearby containing some food he chose to ate before proceeding onward.

When he had run into a small, more open area of the poison forest, Chopper could get a better view of the sky now that some trees weren't blocking the way. However, rather than being sunny, he saw clouds covering the sky instead.

"Oh… The sun's not here. Well that stinks." Chopper frowned, looking at the trees until there was one thing that caught his eyes. There was a large billboard showing what appeared to be a fourteen year old girl with purple, poisonous hair in two ponytails wearing a purple robe with green jewels on it. He also saw the purple earrings she wore as well, along with her purple eyes. She appeared to be holding her fingers in a peace sign while winking. He noticed a few things written on the billboard as well.

_Princess Poisna's Casino Club is now open! Want money and jewels? Then gamble all you want!_

Chopper also noticed something else above her peace sign. "That's a Power Star Piece! I guess this person has the next one… I guess I better go there and get it from her from this…whatever the place is."

Before moving on, he heard the sound of a projectile coming his way. Turning around, he noticed a green shell coming straight at him, making him jump out of the way just in time. The next thing he saw was something leaping out of the bushes and trying to slash at him with its orange blade on its tail. Chopper ran over to the shell and kicked it to force the creature back.

"What the heck?" Chopper gaped, noticing the half robot and half shadow being canine. "Who are you?"

"I am known as Shanine," the canine answered, swiping at the grass with his tail blade. "My sensors tell me you are Chopper, affirmative?"

"Huh? I don't understand what you mean by that…"

"Yes, that's Chopper all right," the shell replied, transforming into Nazado and standing by Shanine's side. "Remember me, Chopper?"

"Ummmmmmm… I'm not so sure…" Chopper trailed, causing Nazado to fall over.

"What do you mean you don't remember?! I'm Nazado! I'm the first person you ever fought! Don't you remember?"

"Hmmmmmmmm… Oh, I think so." Chopper realized. "It was the second chapter of this story when I first saw you!"

"I fail to understand what you mean," Shanine informed before getting in a fighting stance. "The task at hand is to eliminate the one named Chopper, and that would be you."

"Two against one? But… That's not even fair!" Chopper cried nervously.

"Tough luck, kid! This ain't a fantasy, you know! This is real life!" Nazado cackled, a light blue glow emitting from his wand.

"Hold on a moment..." Shanine cut in, looking back at his master. "It would be most unfair if we were to face him alone. My instincts suggest that I face him myself."

"Wait, are you kidding? Two is better than one in a fight, you know. We would be victorious."

"While I do see the odds in our favor, us working together to eliminate the enemy would not feel very rewarding," Shanine looked back at Chopper as if he was about to charge at him. "I will take care of him. Should I be unsuccessful, then next time, we shall both work together to annihilate the target."

Nazado was about to object, but he realized he wouldn't win and lowered his finger. "All right, so be it. I'll let you take care of this boy. However, there may be some consequences if you should fail…"

"I understand what you mean and will face them if I fail."

The wizard slowly gave him a nod and transformed into an eagle to fly off. Shanine turned his attention back to Chopper. "I hope you are ready, little boy…"

Chopper glared at Shanine and pointed his wand at him. "What are you supposed to be? Some kind of shadow thingy?"

"Your insulting could use more work, but it won't be enough to help you win. Exterminate!" Shanine leaped in the air and began to dive down at Chopper. He gasped and pointed his wand to fire a beam at Shanine, knocking him further in the air. The mechanical shadow canine, however, was able to easily land on his four feet and shook off the attack.

Chopper was surprised at first, but he had no time to think about that when Shanine charged at him again. His sharp, metallic claws nearly scratched him each time he tried swiping them at him. He put up his wand to block a few swipes, but it was eventually knocked away.

"Is this all you can do to defend yourself? I was expecting much more." scoffed Shanine.

"Defend myself? But I was…" Chopper trailed.

"It appears you did not hear my statement correctly. Oh well. I must finish the job."

Shanine swiped at Chopper again, only to have him duck under his metallic claws. Instead, Shanine decided to swing his tail and knock Chopper back by a tree nearby. With a chance to make another move, Shanine charged at him again and readied his tail blade.

Chopper looked up and saw Shanine swinging his tail blade at him. He quickly jumped out of the way and watched as a tree he was dazed on got chopped down. Seeing this as an opportunity, he ran over to his wand and picked it up. He dashed at Shanine as he whirled around and charged and fired a twirling beam whip from his wand. Shanine was caught in the attack and got knocked onto the tree stump.

"_OK… I'm not doing too bad. If this keeps up, maybe I might win!"_ Chopper thought, watching Shanine stand up again. Expecting him to charge again, Chopper aimed his wand at him, but what he saw instead was Shanine opening his mouth and letting out a howl. An orange beam suddenly fired from his mouth and nearly hit Chopper.

"What was that?!"

"That question is not what concerns me. My concern is to exterminate you." Shanine replied in a monotone voice. He shot another beam that struck Chopper and managed to knock his Beam ability away. "So the target is not yellow but green. An interesting discovery."

As Shanine began to charge at Chopper by spinning his body like a drill, Chopper jumped over him and stomped on his head as soon as the shadow canine stopped. Sadly, it didn't appear to do much damage, and it only knocked Chopper back as soon as Shanine swung his tail blade at him.

When Chopper crashed onto the floor, he ended up bumping into a yellow ? block sitting on the ground. An Ice Flower popped out, so Chopper absorbed its power and gained light blue gloves. Turning around, he saw Shanine charging at him. Chopper fired an ice ball that hit Shanine and left him frozen.

"All right! I did it!" Chopper cheered, walking up to the frozen Shanine. "I wonder… If I hit him while he's frozen, would he break?"

Just as he was about to knock on the ice, Shanine's eyes began to glow yellow, and soon he managed to break out of his icy prison and send ice shards into a few trees. Chopper covered his face as a couple of non-sharp shards had come in his direction.

"You'll have to do better than that," scoffed Shanine, striking Chopper with his claws and knocking his Ice Flower ability away with ease. He tried clawing at him again, but Chopper easily sped away from the attack and grabbed a hold of a branch on one of the trees.

Unfortunately, that was a bad idea. The spikes on Shanine's tail detached and fired in Chopper's direction. He immediately let go of the branch and dodged the spikes that hit the tree. Before he could sigh in relief, he saw the spikes reappear on Shanine's tail.

"As I shoot spikes from my tail, new ones replace that. Unfortunately for you, that is a problem." Shanine said, firing more spikes at him. Rather than avoiding them, Chopper opened his mouth and started inhaling. Shanine's claws sank into the floor, trying his best not to get sucked in. Once the spikes were in the boy's mouth, the shadow canine was left with a surprised expression.

"What was that kind of power?"

Chopper swallowed the spikes, and his skin changed from pale green to yellow, while his feet had changed orange. A pink helmet with spikes on it had appeared on his head that included a red visor.

"My senses are identifying this being to be…unlike anything I've seen before," Shanine gaped. "But that will not stop me."

More spikes fired from his tail and came at Chopper, who clenched his fists and let the spikes pop out from his helmet and easily blocked the attack. Once said attack was gone, the spikes retracted back into Chopper's pink helmet.

"This is a weird move…" Chopper trailed. "Is that all it can do?"

Pondering for a moment, he tried out another move by pointing his helmet at Shanine and firing spikes. They managed to hit the canine, but he resorted to using his tail blade to block them. Unfortunately, that didn't stop Chopper from landing a single kick on him.

"If you wish to play rough, then I will grant you that wish," Shanine stated, spinning vertically toward Chopper. He had quickly stepped out of the way as Shanine sliced many trees in half along the way. One tree ended up falling over him, but his tail blade managed to slice through that with ease before coming back to the battle.

Howling, Shanine resorted to mostly using his tail to hit Chopper instead. Each time he swung, Chopper would let his spikes pop out and stop the attack. When he saw his opportunity to strike, the four year old jumped in the air and struck Shanine's head headfirst with his spiky head. This left Shanine staggering back until he opened his mouth and fired a laser.

Getting a bit confident, Chopper let the spikes pop out and protect him. Unfortunately, this did not appear to be the case, as the laser got past his defenses and knocked him onto the floor.

"See if you can dodge this," Shanine suggested, now spinning across the field like a drill in a zigzag fashion. Chopper would've put his spikes up, but Shanine managed to get to him faster and pin him to the ground. "Now I've got you. It's time to end this."

Raising his tail blade, he brought it down upon Chopper. Sadly, he had left himself a little opening, allowing Chopper to kick him off and get back up in the process. While Shanine was down, Chopper shot a couple of spikes from his helmet to damage him a little more.

"Hold on… Let's see what else I can do." Chopper suggested. Soon he found himself rolling up into a spiky ball and charging straight at Shanine. Upon seeing him come, the shadow canine quickly got up and brought his tail blade in front of him to stop the attack, despite struggling.

"Impressive skills for a boy, but you will never stop me," Shanine stated, managing to push Chopper away and knock him into another tree. Since his spikes were still out, he ended up getting stuck. Thankfully he retracted them, allowing him to land safely. Unfortunately, he noticed Shanine spinning vertically and flying his way.

"Oh no! …Wait, maybe that last attack might help me here!" Wasting no time, Chopper spun in a spiky ball again and clashed with Shanine. Both tried pushing each other back, but it wasn't getting anywhere.

In a surprise turn of events, one of the trees that remained standing after being cut from the bottom began to shake. Chopper happened to spot the tree falling in their direction, making him quickly get out of the clash and further away from the falling tree.

"What is this? You've given up already?" Shanine asked. "I'm not so surprised to see that you're cowardly."

But rather than reply angrily, Chopper gave him a smirk. "Oh, that's not it!"

Shanine raised an eyebrow until he felt the sound of a falling tree. He also noticed a shadow above him and turned around to discover the falling tree. Before he could get away, the tree had fallen on top of him, making him let out a shriek.

"I…did it?" Chopper gasped, noticing Shanine no longer moving. "I guess I don't have to worry about him anymore! Though, I feel bad that a tree had to fall on him… Maybe I should try getting it off."

He approached the tree and tried to get it off, but his stubby arms were not strong enough. He tried a couple more times until giving up. "Oh, what's the use? I can't move this thing! I'm just not strong enough…"

Letting out a sigh, he failed to notice Shanine's arm slowly move. Regaining conscience, he managed to cut the tree off him and knock Chopper back with a single blow from his tail blade to knock his Needle ability away.

"You… You are more than you seem." Shanine panted as he looked down at his damaged body. "It appears in this state, I cannot put up much of a fight. I will let you go for now, little boy, but expect my return."

Before Chopper could get up, Shanine had already ran through the trees. Chopper took this time to rub his eyes and rub the bruises left on him from the battle. Now safe, he looked up at the billboard of Poisna and gave it a glare.

"I'm going to be coming for that Power Star Piece you have, weird anime girl! And I don't care how much anime girls freak me out! I'm going to get that thing from you!"

Wasting no time at all, Chopper moved on through the poisonous forest. Little did he realize he was being watched by another robotic figure.

"TARGET IDENTIFIED AS CHOPPER. TARGET MUST BE ELIMINATED BY LORD MAQUANO'S REQUEST."

* * *

**So we discover a little bit more about what happened to Chopper a couple of years ago and see how much of a big deal he makes of things. And I guess there was a bit of fluff in there as well, though that'll probably be the only time you'd see something like that here. **

**I kinda apologize for the long flashback, since it felt like it took up more of this chapter than the actual area itself. Thankfully, that's probably one of the last flashbacks you might see in this story, so there will be more of a focus on the area Chopper's in. You could probably say that flashback was a bit of "filler"...**

**And yes, Chopper kinda has a bit of a fear for anime girls. Great job, Toalune. You're a great dad! XD**


	20. Through Ghostly Dangers

Chapter 20: Through Ghostly Dangers

Chopper continued his way through the poison forest, not letting anything hold him back in the process. Thankfully, he had not run into any enemies, so it was smooth sailing from here. No poisonous water got in his way either, so there was no jumping or swinging for him either. His main focus, of course, was finding that girl on that billboard.

Of course, there was another problem he had to endure: his growling stomach.

"Man… I wish I had some food with me…" Chopper mumbled, starting to slow down. "I never knew going out like this would be hard for me, especially when I don't have any food…"

Looking around, Chopper spotted an apple tree right next to a sign. Smiling, he rushed toward the tree and leaped onto one of the branches. "Oh, boy! Some apples sure will be nice! They're tasty, sweet, juicy, and, uh… Tasty?"

Grabbing a red apple, he dropped it in his mouth and swallowed it whole. Not being enough for him, he grabbed a couple of more apples and ate them all in one go. It was so tasty that he wanted even more.

So there he was, eating apples for about thirty minutes, despite the fact that he could have moved on after three minutes. During that time, a certain dirty bush character was able to show up, feeling a bit exhausted.

"Oh, geez… That sure was something…" Bushwert panted, looking up at the apple tree. "Maybe I'll have a li'l apple and take a break! No one's out here, so I'll be fine with some…heh…reading!"

He reached for an apple, but soon discovered that there weren't any left. "Huh? No apples? This is crazy! I thought for sure there'd be a treat in here! …Oh well. I guess I can get to some reading!"

Sitting down, Bushwert took out a magazine and opened it, chuckling in the process. Chopper, however, had finished eating the apples and jumped off the branch, completely unaware of Bushwert's presence. Upon turning around, he noticed Bushwert chuckling like an idiot.

"Um, excuse me, mister… Are you…?"

"Huh? WAAAAAH!" Bushwert cried, quickly closing his magazine and hiding it. "…Oh, wait, it's just you, kid. In fact, I was looking for you."

"Looking for me? What for?" Chopper wondered.

"You see… I needed to tell you what kind of girl I want you to find me just so you don't screw anything up, of course! You know, someone attractive and stuff!"

"I'm sorry, mister, but I don't have time for that… I'm trying to get that Power Star Piece from that anime girl I saw. I should've grabbed it from her when I had the chance."

"You mean the billboard with Princess Poisna on it?" Bushwert gawked. "Kid, you know how dangerous trying to get to her is?!"

"No, sir… But I need to get that if I'm going to stop Maquano."

Now Bushwert's eyes were even wider. "You're seriously out of your mind if you're trying to do something like that! …But, if you really want to find that, er, lovely princess, then the only way is through the Forbidden Woods. That's just up ahead. But be warned… Those woods aren't safe, and consist of mostly ghosts. It's also very confusing to go through, and some have even gotten lost. Past those woods, however, I hear is a lake full of riches! Hmmmm… Maybe if I get to that lake, I can impress those chicks easily, since chicks tend to love the rich bushes!"

Chopper blinked for a moment and looked at Bushwert in confusion. "Ummmmm… I don't really understand you, but all I heard from you were ghosts and a lake. I bet the riches in the lake are something tasty!"

Turning around, Chopper quickly made a dash into the dark woods up ahead.

"Kid! You don't EAT riches! They're for impressing people, especially chicks!"

* * *

**Forbidden Woods-**

Entering the woods, Chopper noticed the leaves on the tree appeared paler than their usual dark green. Even the grass was paler as well. The sky was difficult to see at the moment, but it appeared that there was a moon that took the sun's place instead.

"Wow, this place doesn't look so nice…and it's a bit dark here," Chopper said, walking through the woods and looking up at the sky. "I don't like the looks of this place…"

Taking one step, he heard a sound, causing him to yelp. However, looking down at his feet, he found out what the sound truly was. "Oh… It was just a twig I stepped on. Well that's a relief."

Chopper began to pick up the pace and started to move faster through the woods. "Well this is strange… That bush person told me this place was filled with ghosts, yet I don't see any here…"

As if on cue, a giggle could be heard through some of the trees. Chopper, once again, was put to a halt when he was forced to look around the bushes and trees. Shrugging, he continued his way through the woods.

A couple of more cackles echoed through the woods, but Chopper chose not to stop and continued running. He tried thinking of other things to keep the laughter out of his head, such as food. Those thoughts suddenly made him want to eat more food.

Another pathway appeared on the right, making Chopper stop as he turned his head to the right. There, sitting on the floor, was a fresh watermelon waiting for him. A cheerful smile appeared on the child's face as he tried to grab the fruit, only for it to move out of his grasps.

"Hey! That's not funny! Come here, watermelon!" Chopper cried, continuously trying to catch the watermelon and fail each time. "Stop trying to run from me! You know you were made to be in my tummy!"

When the watermelon was under a branch, Chopper managed to catch it and eat it whole. "Mmmmmm! See? I told you you couldn't catch up to me, watermelon!"

Looking down at his feet, Chopper noticed a shadow was over him. He looked up and saw an anvil falling in his direction. Screaming, he sped out of the way just in time for it to barely hit his foot.

"That was too close!" Chopper cried before calming down briefly. He stared at the anvil for a moment before poking it. "What is this? It looks really heavy…"

As he continued to poke at the anvil, he felt something poke his arm. Chopper turned around and was met face-to-face with a purple ghost with white eyes and mouth. It had a small, purple glow around its body and a silly face. These were known as Ghools.

"Huh? What are you supposed to be?" Chopper asked.

The Ghool let out a giggle before its eyes and mouth grew wider and scary. Chopper was left gaping and scared as he quickly backed away from the ghost. It started cackling after reverting its face back to normal, making Chopper a bit mad.

"That wasn't nice!" Chopper shouted, charging at the Ghool and delivering a kick, only to phase through the ghost and fall over face-first. The Ghool turned to Chopper and started cackling again.

When Chopper stood back up, he noticed the Ghool was left unharmed. "Huh? I don't understand… That should've hurt this ghost…if it really is a ghost."

He walked up to the Ghool and tried to deliver punches and kicks, but neither of those appeared to do any harm. The ghost started to laugh idiotically, but when Chopper opened his mouth and started inhaling, the ghost felt itself moving.

But, like before, the Ghool only phased through Chopper and didn't even get in his mouth. This left Chopper annoyed when he turned to it. "How come nothing's working to beat you?"

The Ghool stuck its tongue out at him, leaving Chopper no other choice but to leave the trail and take the trail he should have taken. More ghosts began to appear behind a few trees, some ranging from red and muscular, lavender and fat, and blue and skinny. They all made scary and silly faces that made Chopper feel uncomfortable.

The trail eventually led into a much larger area that had a poisonous pond and a few, large lily pads. There were many pink ghosts circling the pond, and a few others poked Chopper when he came to a halt.

What also surprised Chopper were the three trails just up ahead.

"Three trails? And why do these ghosts keep bugging me? I don't like it!" Chopper complained, shaking the ghosts away from him.

"Isn't it fun to scare people who like to wander into these woods?" one of the pink ghosts asked.

"Yeah! And it's so funny to see the expressions on their faces!" another replied.

"…Hey! I see a kid here! Let's go scare him to death!" a third suggested.

Agreeing, the pink ghosts turned their attention to Chopper, whose antenna's quickly sprung straight up. The ghosts were roundish, and almost had an appearance of a Boo. However, they had their fangs sticking out from their mouth, along with white, pointy tongues. Apparently they were known as Ghoops.

Chopper instantly bolted away from them and used the lily pads to jump across the pond. He ran to the trail to the right, but to his shock, it only led him back to the same area, with the ghosts waiting for him again.

"Going somewhere, little boy?" one Ghoop smiled evilly. "There's no escape from this place! You're trapped!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Chopper gasped.

"This place is like a maze! Go the wrong way, and you'll only end up back here! The only way to find out which way is correct is to check the trail that appears to be much different!"

The other Ghoops gave the one speaking a glare. "…D'oh! Now I really messed things up!"

A smile formed on Chopper's face as he jumped off one of the ghost's head to go back to the three trails. He noticed the left trail had a tree with a face nearby, giving him the idea of running in that direction.

The Ghoops were giving a certain other a look of annoyance before the one Ghoop got smacked by them all.

For Chopper, hope seemed to return in his mind when he continued to run through the trail. However, little did he know that a Snatcher from the pyramid he went through was floating behind. It quickly grabbed Chopper and began to squeeze him.

"Ack! What's this!?" cried Chopper.

"You're not going anywhere!" the Snatcher snickered. "You see, when people enter this place, they never return…"

"Just let go! You're… You're just like those ghosts I found in the pyramid!" Chopper struggled to get lose, but the Snatcher refused to let go. However, it wasn't until Chopper tried to run when the ghost found itself losing its grip on him. It tried snatching him again, but he had already escaped.

Many ghosts tried to step in Chopper's way as he continued running through the trail, but they coincidentally left openings for him to use in order to pass them. For example, some were in a circle, allowing him to jump in the center, while some could not prevent Chopper from sliding under them. Looking back, Chopper couldn't help but smile.

"Wow… Thinking about it more, these ghosts really aren't so scary…"

Unfortunately, he hadn't taken notice of the river ahead and ended up falling. However, he ended up landing on a lily pad instead, making him sigh in relief.

"Oh, well that's all right…" Chopper trailed, sitting on the lily pad as it began to move. "I could sure relax for a bit."

He decided to lie down and look up at the night sky. There were a couple of stars ranging from yellow, red and blue. Chopper couldn't help but smile at the starry sky. "Those lights look really nice up in that sky. It almost reminds me of when I was being taken here…"

Being reminded of Mondrao's destruction, along with his parents and his kind, Chopper felt sadness in his eyes. "Am I really the only one of my kind left? And why was I of all people sent here to live by myself? I'm just a little kid! I also don't understand why Mety decided to leave me here by myself?"

Remembering Meta Knight, Chopper sat up and took out the communicator given by him. He stared at it for a moment before trying to get the gizmo to work. Pressing random buttons on the communicator, he held it close to him like a phone and listened carefully.

"Remember, in _our_ woods, _no_ soul escapes!"

Chopper's antennas twitched for a moment, and when he turned around, he spotted a Ghool grinning. It made another face at Chopper, who gasped and covered his face.

"Heh heh heh! What's the matter? Can't handle ghosts?" the Ghool cackled. Its cackling continued until a purple laser fired near the lily pad, grabbing the ghost's attention. Chopper uncovered his face and noticed a Jewelite firing a couple of lasers down at him. "Whoa! I'm outta here!"

The ghost quickly flew out of the Jewelite's sight, making the purple jewel enemy look down at Chopper instead. Noticing land nearby, Chopper jumped off the lily pad, bounced off the Jewelite and landed on the next trail. This ended up leading him to a circular area with a couple of large rocks and some dark green grass covering the landscape. A couple of ghosts were hiding behind a few trees when a few water balls fired from a cannon in the center. One had barely missed Chopper.

"Hey! It's you again, kid! Thought you forgot about me?!"

Chopper turned back to the turret and noticed a Leafion controlling the cannon. "Huh? You look like one of those leaf enemies I saw in the jungle area…"

"Yeah! That's right! It's me, Leafguy!" Leafguy declared, making a dumb pose. "And now I've got myself a nice hat too!"

Chopper noticed the captain's hat made of wood. "What's so special about a hat?"

Leafguy paused for a moment before glaring back at Chopper. "Just shut up so we can fight, OK? I've been waiting a long time for this, and now I'm going to finally get my revenge!"

The Leafion general aimed its cannon at Chopper and began to fire more water balls. Remembering these attacks from last time, Chopper managed to step out of the way and jump over a few water balls. This, however, only angered Leafguy even more.

"You can't dodge forever, kid! This water is a hundred percent clean guaranteed! It's supposed to melt you by now!"

The ghosts were soon laughing at Leafion, who had stopped firing its cannon and stared at the ghosts. "…Hey! What's so funny?! This water's supposed to be deadly! It worked before!"

"HAHAHA! He thinks water's going to work!" a Ghool laughed.

"What an idiot!" a Ghoop exclaimed.

Leafguy sweat dropped and aimed its cannon at the ghosts, leaving them soaking wet. However, the ghosts didn't seem to care and continued to laugh. Chopper was unsure of what to do at first, but upon realizing Leafguy was left unguarded, he charged at the Leafion and knocked it away from the cannon. Now the ghosts stopped laughing and took out ghostly popcorn to watch the show.

"So, I heard you ended up defeating my king, Trinado," Leafguy mentioned, pulling himself up in the process. "Kinda strange for someone like you to do that, but that'll hardly stop me from trying to stop you!"

He charged straight at Chopper, only to have his opponent jump and land on his head to make him fall over. Leafguy growled as he stood up again with more flare in his eyes than before.

"OK, kid! You asked for it! Time to take out my helmet blade!" he reached for the blade on his head, but he soon realized his hat did not don a blade. "…Wait, hold on a sec… Aw, no! I almost forgot that this hat doesn't support a freaking crescent blade! Stupid stupid stupid!"

However, an idea soon struck his mind. Staring at Chopper, Leafguy began to use his hypnosis against him. Chopper tilted his head in confusion, unaffected by the Leafion's hypnotic powers.

"Why…? Why doesn't my hypnosis work against you?! That was supposed to put you under my command!"

"I don't understand what you mean," Chopper blinked. He looked around and noticed one ghost playing with a Fire Flower. An idea struck his mind before he put his inhaling to use to bring the Fire Flower over to him. Grabbing it, his gloves became red. "Maybe this might come in handy!"

Realizing Leafguy had no way to defeat him, he looked back at the cannon and ran after it. Chopper quickly took action and threw a fireball at the cannon, destroying it and leaving Leafguy defenseless. The only thing it could do was cower in fear.

"You… You wouldn't try to hurt me, would you?" Leafguy shrieked, looking down at Chopper's red gloves.

"Well… I'd rather not." Chopper replied, shaking his head. "It's not the right thing to do. But you should just stop trying to hurt some people, OK? That's a bit mean."

"That's funny, because I remember you destroying many Darklings and Leafions when I laid my eyes on you! And you think that's not mean?"

Chopper paused for a moment with a look of uncertainty. "Well… Ummmm…"

"Let's be honest here. Keep that attitude up, and your going to be an easy target for us." Leafguy smirked. "I can tell you didn't choose to fight like this if you don't have what it takes to take some lives. Many heroes do know that to save many lives, it would have to cost a couple of others!"

"But… I just don't find it right. Though, I think I can understand what you mean…"

"Yeah, sure, kid… Anyway, I think I remember saying something to you about Steve. Did you tell him about the cooking?"

"…Huh? I don't think so." Chopper replied.

"What?! …OK, did you tell him he's fired?"

"No, not that either."

"Great... He was always such a fool, despite being a real trooper. We all used to screw around with him, but when we defeated this one beast, he stayed there all day just trying to lift that thing off the ground. That's when we realized…he was a trooper. From that day onward, many people knew him as…Steve the Trooper."

Chopper blinked, having no clue what Leafguy was talking about. He raised a finger to speak, but he was cut off when the ghosts decided to jump in and go after him. Chopper gasped, but looking at his red gloves, he tried his best to fight back by shooting fireballs at a few ghosts. Surprisingly, the fire seemed to be doing some harm to them.

Seeing that the coast was clear, Leafguy got up and quickly bolted out of the area. _"I guess I don't have what it takes to take this kid on… However, I'm sure when the time comes, I'll be ready for him! Though, I feel it might take a couple of years to do so…"_

Looking at the ghosts, Chopper realized that attacking them was a choice he shouldn't have made. Now they were all ticked and charging at him. Their angry faces were certainly a lot scarier.

"Uh oh…" Chopper gulped, jumping out of the way as soon as the ghosts started to shoot ghostly balls of energy from their mouths. Not having much of a choice, Chopper ran on through the next trail ahead, even if the ghosts still chased after him.

"You're not escaping this place!" a Ghoop hissed. "You've made us angry, and now you'll pay by losing your soul!"

Chopper let out another gulp, not liking the sound of that. Regardless, he continued to run, but he noticed nothing was changing. Looking around, he tried to look for another trail to take. Another thing he noticed was that the trees around him were no longer filled with leaves, easily revealing the full moon in the sky.

Hearing the sound of ghost balls being fired behind him, Chopper ran up a tree nearby and began to leap from tree to tree, hoping this would make things easier. But even then, the ghosts were able to easily catch up with their ability to fly.

"What did we just say?!" a Snatcher spat. "Just give up now!"

Chopper stopped jumping when he had noticed other ghosts appear up ahead to block him. Pink ghosts appeared around Chopper and started to circle him before rising in the air to form into a giant, pink ghost. Or, should we say, a Big Ghoop.

The Big Ghoop started off by opening its mouth and firing a beam of ghostly energy. Chopper gaped and quickly jumped down onto the pale grass. Readying a fireball, he chucked it into the Big Ghoop's mouth, causing it to choke and cough up some smoke. Seeing this as an opportunity to attack, Chopper ran up to the big ghost and delivered a punch thanks to the flames bursting in his fist.

"It's really nice that my punches work pretty well with these fire powers," Chopper smiled, looking at the glowing, flaming aura around his hand. "If I didn't have that, my punch probably wouldn't have done a thing!"

Shaking the burn off, the Big Ghoop hissed at Chopper and began to charge. A large thud was heard each time it bounced off the floor, and by opening its mouth, it began to fire another ghost beam. Chopper ducked under it and hurled a fireball at the monstrous ghost. It cackled before becoming transparent, allowing the fireball to phase through its body.

While it was transparent, Chopper quickly ran through the Big Ghoop in an attempt to get away. Sadly, many ghosts had been blocking his way and were firing projectiles. One had managed to hit Chopper's face and knock him to the ground, and it also made him lose his Fire Flower ability.

"Hee hee hee… Well, looks like that turned out well!" a Ghool smirked, flying over to Chopper. "I call taking his soul!"

"What? No way!" a Snatcher hissed. "He's mine!"

"All of you shut up! I want that soul!" the Big Ghoop bellowed, silencing the other ghosts. "Now then… Let's get started…"

The Big Ghoop lingered over Chopper and opened its mouth, ready to take his soul from him. However, just as it was about to do so, it was hit in the head by a tire. All the ghosts turned their attention to a ghostly trio smirking at them.

"What's your problem?!" the Big Ghoop exclaimed. "I was about to steal this boy's soul! So would you mind!?"

"Geng geng geng…" Gengly snickered, looking down at Chopper. "Hey, kid! I just threw that at the ghost! Aren't we true villains now?"

Chopper slowly looked up at the Ghostly Trio and then at the wheel that had landed beside him. An idea sparked in his mind when he stood up and inhaled the wheel while the ghosts still paid attention to the three Pokemon. Swallowing the wheel, Chopper had now found a red backwards baseball cap on his head.

"No way…" Chopper gasped. "I think I know what kind of power this is!"

Seeing Chopper in his new appearance, Gengly was left infuriated. "What?! Come on! I thought that was supposed to make us look like real bad guys! …Yeesh, we suck. We were better in that desert!"

"So, what now, boss?" Haunting asked.

"Do we run for it?" Ghastly asked.

"Run for it? You two lack legs!" Gengly exclaimed. "But that ain't what's important! I say we assault them! Assaulting people is against the law anyway, and only bad guys break the law!"

Conjuring up a shadow ball, Gengly hurled it at the Big Ghoop. It appeared to be super effective, as the Big Ghoop was crying in pain. Unfortunately, the pain didn't last long when the large ghost fired a ghost beam in their direction.

"Oh, geez! We're getting outta here!" Gengly quickly made a run for it, while his two companions followed him in an attempt to escape. The Big Ghoop was confused for a moment, but it quickly turned its attention to Chopper.

"Now, where was I?" the Big Ghoop smirked, approaching Chopper.

"Don't try that just yet!" Chopper cried, raising a finger. "I've just gotten an ability you're all going to love! Now… Take this! _**PK Taco!**_"

Everyone paused as nothing happened. "…Huh? Hey, it didn't work? Uhhhhhh… PK Waffle? PK Rock? Why is nothing working?"

"Oh for the love of…" the Big Ghoop flew toward Chopper, who ended up ducking and accidentally transformed into a dark green wheel with a yellow star on the hubcap. He ended up strolling past the Big Ghoop and toward the rest of the ghosts. They were sent flying like bowling pins upon impact, and Chopper ended up turning toward another trail, leading him into the right direction.

Strangely enough, Chopper was led to another poisonous pond, but with the Wheel ability he now gained, he managed to go over the pond with ease. He soon stopped past the pond and turned back to normal.

"That was weird…" Chopper trailed, looking at his hands and then felt the cap on his head. "Wasn't I supposed to get something called ISP or something? Wait, was it SIP or PSI? I don't remember… I guess it just made me turn into that wheel thing…"

Pausing for a moment, he noticed two trees with red eyes glaring at him. While they weren't gigantic, they had the ability to detach from the ground and approach the boy.

Despite not having leaves, the trees, known as Ghost Trees, were able to create ghostly acorns with a light blue glow and hurl them at Chopper. He responded by transforming into a wheel and ramming into the first Ghost Tree, while swiftly turning to the second and knocking it over.

After bumping into the trees, Chopper had been slightly lifted over the ground for a moment for him to transform back to normal. Looking at the trees, Chopper was left with a surprised expression.

"Wow… That was…strange." Chopper gaped. "I never thought I'd be able to turn into something like that…"

He noticed four trails around him this time, and looking back, a few ghosts were chasing after him. More ghostly projectiles were coming his way, making Chopper quickly move. After looking at the trails, he noticed one with a pale purple tree nearby, so he took off in that direction.

To his surprise, Chopper noticed the end of the Forbidden Woods just up ahead. Unfortunately, it happened to be over another poisonous pond. It was much larger than the others and had a few green, yellow, blue and red pipes pointing straight up or at an upper right and left angle.

However, there was one thing strange about them. They looked like they were made from a painting. In fact, Chopper looked up at the sky and noticed it was purple and resembled a painting. Confused, he looked at a sign near the pond that was labeled "Paint Pond".

"Oh… So this little area here is like a painting! Cool!" Chopper smiled, making a leap over the water and onto one of the floating pipes. "And it doesn't feel any different either!"

Hearing something behind him, Chopper turned around and saw the Big Ghoop and many other ghosts on his tail. He gulped and coincidentally fell inside the green pipe he stood on. This only launched him high into the air and above the many trees. Sadly, it wasn't enough to lead him into the clouds.

"Well, this sure is an interesting view…" Chopper trailed before starting to plummet. "Oh, no… This isn't good! …Maybe I can turn into a wheel while in the air?"

Gulping, he transformed into a wheel and began to move over the pipes and reach the other side. Now on the pale grass, he rolled on past many trees and sent ghosts who had reached him flying in the air. Chopper transformed back to normal and started running, knowing that it would be much faster.

"I'm almost there…"

"Oh no you don't!" the Big Ghoop shouted, shooting a ball of ghostly energy near Chopper, sending him flying forward. When he landed, he lost his Wheel ability, but it didn't stop him from getting up and running. The Big Ghoop paused for a moment when it realized what it just did. "Wait… That only helped him get closer!"

Looking up ahead, the Big Ghoop noticed Chopper was just several feet away from the exit. "No! He can't leave without his soul being taken! We ghosts live off those souls!"

The Big Ghoop flew toward Chopper as fast as it could, but even then it wasn't enough to catch up to him. In about five seconds, Chopper had already breached the borderline between the Forbidden Woods and the poison forest, and the Big Ghoop found itself harmed by the light that had returned upon leaving the woods.

Looking down, it noticed Chopper had stopped and turned around to face the ghost. The Big Ghoop began to slowly move back when Chopper approached it.

"Just go back where you belong," Chopper suggested. "If you can't live out here, then it's probably for the best."

"So be it…" the Big Ghoop split into normal-sized Ghoops and made their way back into the darkness of the Forbidden Woods. A smile had appeared on Chopper's face as he turned around and cheered. The paleness of the plants and bushes were back to their usual dark green color, and the sky had returned to normal as well.

"It's so nice to be out of those woods," the boy smiled. "I sure didn't like that place."

However, despite being happy, there was no time to celebrate. Two, light blue jewel enemies with two eyes rather than one called Jewlies fired jewel shards in Chopper's direction. His antennas sensing the attack, he jumped out of the way and inhaled a few of the projectiles to spit back at one of them, while he took care of the other Jewlie with a simple jump.

When a purple Jewelar had risen from the ground, Chopper clenched his fists and spun his foot to deliver a quick, spinning kick when the Jewelar's head tried to headbutt him. Two more kicks were able to eliminate the enemy.

"Well, I suppose I should get moving," Chopper suggested. "There's no time for celebrating yet!"

Noticing a poisonous river filled with jewels nearby, Chopper decided to take off and follow the river to the main source. Leafguy's words started to boggle in his mind while following the river.

However, just as he took off, several ghosts were sent flying out of the Forbidden Woods such as a Snatcher and several Ghoops. Another figure had flown out of the woods with the help of its jetpack.

"TARGET IS FOLLOWING THE JEWEL RIVER TO THE LAKE OF RICHES," the figure deduced. "MUST NOT LET TARGET GET AWAY. TARGET WILL BE ELIMINATED IMMEDIATELY."

Ignoring the ghosts, the figure took off at incredible speeds over the trees, leaving the ghosts shocked.

* * *

**I'll fully admit that this wasn't the best chapter I've written, unfortunately, but I'm sure some might appreciate it, since it's not as long as the previous chapter.**

**Also, I threw in a lot of references in this chapter. Some some people may know, while some probably don't. I'd rather not list them off, because that's for you readers to figure out on your own. :P**

**However, if you guys thought there wasn't enough action in this chapter, then the next one might interest you... **


	21. Chopper vs Metal Chopper

Chapter 21: Chopper vs Metal Chopper

As Chopper ran by the river, he couldn't help but take notice of a couple of jewels that were floating at the top. "Wow… Do all of these rivers have pointy, shiny things in them? I don't remember seeing many of those before…"

He stopped for a moment to stare down at the river. A reflection of himself appeared before him, leaving him surprised. He made a few faces, which the reflection did as well, leaving the four-year-old in confusion.

"I don't get it… I make faces, and something that looks just like myself does the same thing! What gives?" Chopper gawked, sticking his tongue out, in which the reflection did the same. However, there was something else that he noticed through the reflection.

Two glowing eyes were right behind one of the trees.

Turning around, Chopper saw a figure charging straight in his direction. Letting out a yelp, he managed to jump over the figure just in time and landed by the trees. When the figure stopped, it turned to Chopper and glared at him with its two, glowing green eyes.

"TARGET IS IDENTIFIED AS CHOPPER."

When Chopper got a full look at the figure the landed on the floor, he was left gaping before pointing at the robot. "You… You look just like me! What are you!?"

"MY GIVEN CODENAME IS METAL CHOPPER. I WAS PROGRAMMED TO ELIMINATE THE ONE WHO LOOKS LIKE ME. YOU ARE HIM."

"Wait… But I don't understand… Who would create something to look like me?"

Metal Chopper slowly approached Chopper while pointing at himself. "I CARRY ALL OF THE ABILITIES YOU HAVE YOURSELF, ALONG WITH MANY OTHERS. LORD MAQUANO WANTED TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT COULD MATCH AND EVEN SURPASS YOU. THAT IS THE REASON WHY I AM HERE."

"So Maquano made you?" Despite having fear in his expression, he tried to put on a brave face and got in a fighting stance. "Well, I don't like him, and I don't like you copying my look! Especially the way you speak…"

"THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE WAY I SPEAK. I ALSO BELIEVE IT IS YOU THAT MAY BE TRULY THE IMPOSTER. HOWEVER, I WILL NOT HAVE TO THINK OF SUCH THOUGHTS WHEN I EXTERMINATE YOU."

Before Chopper could say another word, Metal Chopper came charging his way again. He jumped out of the way just in time and looked behind him to see a couple of trees get knocked down. The thought of what could've happened if he got caught in that left him horrified.

Not knowing what else to do, Chopper decided to run on ahead and hope he would lose his robot counterpart. However, that wasn't the case when he saw Metal Chopper flying beside him over the poisonous river. He grabbed one of the broken trees and began to swing at Chopper, who quickly dodged by jumping and sliding. Metal Chopper resorted to simply throwing the tree instead.

"Hey, if you're supposed to be like me, then how were you able to do that?" Chopper gaped, slowing down just to avoid the tree.

"I TOLD YOU THAT NOT ONLY WAS I CREATED TO BE SIMILAR TO YOU, BUT TO SURPASS YOU," Metal Chopper replied, diving into the poisonous river. He came back out with a sharp, purple jewel. His eyes flashed for a brief moment before a silver cap with retractable spines appeared on his head, just like the appearance of Chopper's Needle ability.

Flying above Chopper now, Metal Chopper turned into a spiked ball and began to charge down at his opponent. Chopper, seeing this, increased his speed and was able to easily outrun Metal Chopper and pass a few trees along the way until he saw a large rock blocking his way.

"Oh, no… What do I do here?" Chopper gasped, feeling that he needed to stop. However, something sparked in his body that made him jump toward the rock. Once Metal Chopper came flying his way, he jumped off the rock and performed a back flip. Metal Chopper flew straight into the rock and created a large hole that crumbled it. For now, Chopper was safe once he landed. "That was close… But how did I easily do that? I wasn't planning on doing that…"

Metal Chopper came flying back to Chopper and stopped his spiked ball attack to look down at him. "IS THIS ALL YOU CAN DO? I THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE A CHALLENGE. YOU ARE WEAK."

"But I really don't want to fight you! I just want to do what I have to do!"

"YOU WILL NOT BE LEAVING THIS PLACE IF YOU CAN'T FIGHT ME. I WANT MY FIRST FIGHT TO BE INCREDIBLE. A DISAPPOINTING BATTLE IS POINTLESS."

The spines on his helmet popped out and came firing in Chopper's direction. Quickly reacting, Chopper inhaled them to gain the Needle ability just like Metal Chopper. Since he had no choice but to fight, he fired spikes at Metal Chopper, but he managed to easily swat them away.

"Wh-What?! But that's not fair!" Chopper cried.

"TOO BAD. LIFE ISN'T FAIR."

Metal Chopper got in another spiked ball and began to charge at Chopper again. Chopper did the same thing as him, causing both to clash and get thrown back onto the ground. The two even lost their Needle abilities in the process.

Metal Chopper was the first to get up and took no time in going after Chopper again. He grabbed him as he stood up and threw him toward a tree nearby, causing it, along with many other trees he crashed into to get knocked over. This went on for fifteen seconds until Chopper stood up and shook some leaves off his head. He rubbed his head from the painful crashes until Metal Chopper flew toward him again.

Placing his hand in front of him, Metal Chopper's fingers grew longer and sharper, making Chopper's antennas point straight up in fear. He charged up him and began to swipe his metallic claws at the boy, who continued to move back and dodge each swing. It wasn't until he found a tree behind him that prevented him from backing any further, so when Metal Chopper tried clawing at him, he ducked and let him get the tree instead.

Looking up, Metal Chopper noticed the tree falling in his direction. He was about to move out of the way, but Chopper managed to land at least one kick at his face. Though it didn't do much, it was able to leave him distracted so Chopper could get out of the way. Unfortunately for Metal Chopper, he did not have enough time to get away, causing the tree to fall on him.

Chopper had taken notice of Metal Chopper's arm lying on the ground right beside the tree. He didn't appear to move, making Chopper smile.

"I… I did it!" Chopper cheered. "He's gone! And it didn't take much to beat him!"

For once, Chopper was left in relief, knowing that the rest of this forest could possibly be fun without an evil robot counterpart in his way. He decided it would be best to leave, so he ran back to the river, not aware that a certain robot's hand was moving.

When Chopper had finally reached the river, he continued his way through the short, dark green grass and stared at the jewel-covered river. It was very hard to keep his eyes off of it with all the beautiful jewels. Something seemed so…interesting about them.

He quickly shook his head and looked back at the trail he was running through. "I shouldn't be looking at that. There's something more important to get."

Chopper noticed another billboard featuring the same girl, only she was wearing 3-D glasses. Something about a movie theater with movies in 3-D was mentioned, confusing the innocent child.

"I wonder… What's a casino and a movie theater?" Chopper wondered. "I don't understand the 3-D thing. Do those things on her face make you see another world? Maybe it might contain food! Mmmmmm…"

A thought bubble appeared over Chopper's head as he imagined him wearing the 3-D glasses and seeing a large amount of food surrounding him. Delicacies including pizza, bananas, apples and ice cream were the most plentiful of them all. A smile appearing on his thought's face, he imagined himself gobbling down all of the food in one go.

"That would be amazing…"

Two Jewelites ended up coming out of the water, surprising Chopper and interrupting his thought bubble, which one Jewelite shot through, causing it to pop. One charged up a laser and prepared to fire, but something ended up interrupting its attack and sent it flying back. Looking up at who caused it, Chopper gasped in fear.

"Wait… But… That tree fell on you!"

"A LARGE PILE OF WOOD IS HARDLY ENOUGH TO STOP ME," Metal Chopper stated, not appearing too harmed by the tree that fell on him. "YOU ARE A COWARD, AND COWARDS DESERVE OBLITERATION."

Flying over to the Jewelite he knocked back, Metal Chopper's eyes flashed and managed to gain a jester hat similar to the Beam ability hat Chopper would wear, only one was gray, while the other was dark gray.

"Hey! That's just like my Beam ability!" Chopper gaped.

The other Jewelite flying around fired a beam in his direction, so he inhaled it to gain the Beam ability as well. He then jumped in the air and landed on the Jewelite's head to get to Metal Chopper easily. Both began to fire charged beam shots at each other, with each of them missing and hitting the ground, river and trees along the way.

Beam whips shot from their wands as the two tried hitting each other. The beam whips only clashed and pushed the two back. The other Jewelite ended up flying back to the fight, and seeing this as an opportunity, Metal Chopper decided to land on it and fly toward Chopper with a stronger beam whip.

However, Chopper easily got around him and fired a charged beam shot behind Metal Chopper. While it didn't make him fall off the Jewelite, it certainly did leave a mark on the back of its head/back.

"Hey… That actually did something!" Chopper gasped. Perhaps there was still hope to this battle after all…

Metal Chopper whirled around to Chopper, pointing his metallic wand at him. "YOUR SHOT WAS LUCKY, AND YOU'RE ASKING FOR A PAINFUL EXTERMINATION."

Seeing another charged shot heading his way, Chopper made the Jewelite fly above the trees so the sky could easily be seen. Metal Chopper followed him up as well, choosing to throw the Jewelite at Chopper. Instead, it ended up hitting the Jewelite he stood on, knocking it back. This ended up throwing the child off and left him in midair for a brief moment before finally plummeting.

Since this was an opportunity to attack, Metal Chopper followed him downward and charged up a beam attack from his wand. Firing the blast, it managed to hit Chopper and make him crash onto the grassy floor, creating a little crater in the process. This also knocked Chopper's Beam ability away as well.

"WHAT A PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A LOOK-A-LIKE," Metal Chopper scoffed, flying down to the hole and charging up another beam attack. "FOR AN ENEMY OF LORD MAQUANO'S YOU SEEM TO BE BELOW MY POWER LEVEL."

Chopper jumped out of the hole with a small, black mark on his cheek. He quickly wiped the dirt off and looked up at the large, beam orb Metal Chopper fired. Opening his mouth, he took action and inhaled the attack, spitting it back at his counterpart in the process and sending him flying across the river.

Seeing some flat jewels floating on top of the poisonous water, Chopper used those to jump across the river, since the gap was too far for him to jump. Once across, he found a vine lined up next to a couple of trees through the forest, so he used the vine to grin toward Metal Chopper.

As soon as the vine had ended, Chopper came to a sudden halt when he saw a large, poisonous lake filled with many jewels. They were not just filled with purple kind, but yellow, green, blue, pink and even white. Looking at a sign nearby, it was discovered that this place was called the Lake of Riches. There was also another sign that read:

_Dear signpost readers,_

_This lake belongs to ME, Princess Poisna! So if I catch any of you peasants taking my precious riches, I'll break you! UNDERSTAND?!_

_Your dear princess,_

_Poisna_

Looking at the other sign, something began to stumble in Chopper's mind, as if he had remembered someone telling him about a lake full of riches. "…Oh, I see! That dirty bush thingy said that there was something like this here! …I wonder if these things are edible."

One of his antennas twitched, making Chopper turn and see Metal Chopper charging his way. He jumped out of the way and ended up jumping on top of the robot, knocking it to the floor.

While that occurred, an orange jewel with two yellow eyes, spikes on its shoulders and similar wings to the Jewelites jumped out of the lake carrying a hammer. Unlike the other jewel type enemies, this one actually had arms, and they were quite muscular. It looked down at Chopper and raised its hammer…

…But it was easily destroyed once Metal Chopper charged into it. Its hammer was sent flying in the air, giving Chopper the opportunity to inhale it and gain the hammer ability. Seeing him with said ability, Metal Chopper copied it as well and now gained a metallic hammer with the hammer's face having a symbol of himself rather than a star.

"You might know everything I can do… But that isn't going to stop me, because… Well…" Chopper paused for a moment, trying to think of something. "Well, I can basically do everything you can as well!"

"ARE YOU CAPABLE OF FLYING AND INCREASING YOUR FINGERS' LENGTH?" Metal Chopper asked, looking at his metallic, shiny fingers.

"Ummmmm… No?" he replied, as if he just got owned.

In response to this, Metal Chopper swung his metallic hammer toward his enemy, hoping to injure or especially destroy him with a single blow. Too bad for him, because Chopper swung back and managed to block the hammer strike. Now the two were trying to force each other back. Metal Chopper, however, decided to make things easier for him and stepped on Chopper's foot, making him flinch and get struck by Metal Chopper's hammer.

Chopper felt himself get thrown back near the lake's edge. The thought of falling in the toxic water began to worry him. His thoughts were interrupted when he turned and saw Metal Chopper jump in the air to bring his hammer down. This, however, left the robot open for an attack, so Chopper pushed himself up, allowing his feet to knock away Metal Chopper and make him land in a bush.

Metal Chopper's metallic fingers easily sliced off the top part of the bush as soon as he got up. Gripping his hammer tightly, he flew toward Chopper and began to spin his body around in hopes of hitting him. Chopper jumped over the attack and landed near him just as he stopped. Charging up a powerful attack, Chopper thrust his hammer upward and knocked Metal Chopper into the lake.

Unfortunately, the break did not last long, as Metal Chopper had flown out of the lake, now surprisingly damaged from the attack. His hammer ability was no longer on him, but it didn't stop him from charging at him. Chopper was ready and jumped in the air to hit him, but Metal Chopper made a quick turn upward and brought his foot down on his head, throwing him to the ground and making him lose his Hammer ability.

"I HAD ENOUGH WITH THIS GAME," Metal Chopper declared, a small amount of static coming from his body. "I DO NOT NEED THESE STRANGE ABILITIES TO DEFEAT YOU."

Chopper clenched his fists and prepared for the worst, but the only thing Metal Chopper did was fly in place, as if he was getting ready to attack at the right moment. He began to run in place as well, preparing to charge into his robot counterpart too. Soon, both clashed and were trying to force each other back with their heads.

"JUST GIVE UP NOW," Metal Chopper suggested. "I AM MUCH BETTER THAN YOU IN EVERYTHING. YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME EVEN IF YOU TRIED."

"No way!" Chopper retorted. "Giving up wouldn't be right! I'm supposed to be doing something right now, and I can't let you get in my way!"

Seeing no way to convince him, Metal Chopper punched the side of his face and knocked him over. He grabbed his foot afterward and started to swing him around so he too was spinning quickly. When he let go, Chopper was sent flying across the lake and landed on a dirt path. Standing up, he noticed his face was covered in dirt. He also found a couple of bruises on his face and arms too.

"Oh, geez… This is not good…"

Turning around, Metal Chopper was flying straight at him. Gulping, he tried to see if there was anything that could help him. It wasn't until he saw a small campfire nearby that gave him a sudden idea. He inhaled the flames and gained the Fire ability just in time for Metal Chopper to show up.

"THAT'S THE BEST YOU CAN COME UP WITH?" scoffed Metal Chopper, whose eyes flashed to gain the same ability. However, his silver appearance changed to a shiny red instead to look similar to Chopper's red skin.

"I was once told before that sometimes you need to fight fire with fire," Chopper stated. "I guess that's what we'll be doing at this point."

He opened his mouth and breathed fire at Metal Chopper, who decided to fly there and take the hit. Though Chopper was happy to hit him, he was disappointed when it hardly did a thing against him.

…Or so he thought.

"WARNING! OVERHEATING DETECTED!" Metal Chopper cried, unable to make another move. "THIS IS NOT GOOD. I WAS DESIGNED TO HANDLE YOUR ABILITIES, BUT I DO NOT APPEAR TO HAVE ANY HEAT-RESISTING ARMOR ON ME. I… I CANNOT CONTINUE LIKE THIS."

Realizing that he had Metal Chopper just where he wanted him, Chopper jumped in the air and managed to throw him to the ground with a flaming kick, damaging the robot even further. Each time he tried breathing fire on him though, his counterpart would quickly avoid it.

"This should do the trick!" Chopper cried, turning into a fireball as he charged into Metal Chopper, sending him flying to the edge of the lake. When he reverted back to himself, he approached Metal Chopper and watched him slowly get up. He appeared to be holding his right arm as if he were limping.

"THIS… THIS IS NOT RIGHT. I CANNOT FIGHT YOU WITH AN ABILITY LIKE THIS, NOR CAN I EVEN USE IT MYSELF." Metal Chopper said, discarding his Fire ability. "IT IS OBVIOUS THAT MY DESIGN IS FLAWED. IT IS POINTLESS TO FIGHT AGAINST YOU WHEN YOU HOLD AN ABILITY LIKE THAT."

"It could be because you're trying to be like me… Honestly, I know myself more than you do."

"I WAS DESIGNED TO SURPASS YOU. I AM OBVIOUSLY MUCH BETTER THAN YOU. HOWEVER, I BELIEVE MY FLAWS NEED TO BE FIXED. DON'T THINK THIS WILL BE THE END OF ME, BECAUSE I WILL RETURN STRONGER THAN BEFORE."

Lifting off the ground, Metal Chopper began to make his exit. He left behind a small trail of smoke before he could no longer be seen through some of the trees. For Chopper, however, he felt relieved, but at the same time, worried. The thought of him returning even stronger was not a good sign.

Looking at his red gloves, Chopper removed his Fire ability and decided to follow the dirt trail. Taking out the incomplete Power Star, it seemed to flash at a faster pace, with a small ray of light shining up ahead.

"I guess this is the right way to go…" Chopper murmured.

He passed by a sign that said "Forked path ahead", making him wonder if the path up ahead was a fork. Soon the path was up ahead, with two ways to go, along with a large fork in between the two paths, making Chopper stop and become confused.

"A fork in the row? Wow! So I was right all along!" Chopper smiled. "Maybe a giant uses this fork to eat his food?"

Before thinking of that any further, he stared back at the fork again. There was an arrow pointing to the left on the fork, along with one pointing to the right. Shrugging, Chopper took the left path.

…Only to run into a large chasm with a large waterfall nearby. Looking down, there was a river leading straight into the ocean. He gulped and slowly stood back from the chasm before going back to the large fork. Instead, Chopper took the left passageway.

After a small walk through the right path, Chopper noticed a couple of Jewelites and a few Darklings on a small little field. He was left surprised, but they didn't appear to move. He slowly approached one of the Darklings and poked it. Strange enough, it didn't respond with any attack. It just remained there…

He heard the sound of a door opening, so he turned to his right and saw a small hut that appeared to be in many different colors. The colors seemed very out of place, like it resembled a rainbow. Getting closer, the door swung open, and out came a familiar face.

"Hey… It's you again." Chopper gasped, pointing at him. "The one who saved me from that Undertoe thingy!"

"I had a feeling you would come here," Kumakan said, approaching the boy while his red cape blew back from the wind. He stared down at the bruises and the dirt on his body. "You look like you just came out of a huge battle."

"Yeah, I did," the boy nodded. "Someone who looked just like me was really trying to hurt me, but I think fire seemed to stop him."

"Is that so? Interesting…"

Chopper looked up at Kumakan and then looked over at the hut. "So… Is this where you live?"

"No, but it is one of the place I stay to train," Kumakan answered. "I have many training areas on Clara. Personally, I think you could use a bit of training yourself, hence why I was waiting for you here. Only then can I help you get across that chasm."

"Wait… How do you know about that huge, uh…chasm?" Chopper gawked.

"There used to be a bridge there, but to prevent anyone from trying to invade my little hut, I destroyed it. However, I can recreate a little path for you to cross over the chasm if you receive my training."

"Training? Why do you want to train me though?"

Kumakan crossed his arms and looked down at Chopper through his glowing pink eyes. "I sense a lot of potential in you, Chopper. The way you faced against Trinado, Stoneard, and even Captain Steelfoot, I feel there is still hope in this world."

"Well, I guess I was a bit lucky with them and… Hey, wait a second! Were you watching me this entire time?"

"Look, none of that is important. What's more important is training you."

"Oh, OK…" Chopper trailed with uncertainty in his voice. "But why do you want to help me?"

"After seeing the kind of power you hold, I want to help you be able to control it," Kumakan explained, taking out his unlit Spectral Sword and spinning it. "It seems that you carry some very…strange abilities when you eat something, along with that strange speed and that jumping. What I also found was that you never truly wanted to fight all of those people except for someone like Maquano. With not much of a will to fight, I don't believe you will able to control those powers on your own. Perhaps that is why there were times where you did something you didn't intend on doing... I want to help you control them in order to help you fight against your enemies. It will definitely make you stronger as a fighter and help you take care of yourself."

Chopper continued to stare at Kumakan and his unlit weapon before blinking. "I…don't understand what you mean. Can you repeat that?"

"Hmmmmmm… I think I have a better idea." Kumakan picked up a rock near him. "Allow me to give you a demonstration."

He threw the rock directly at Chopper, who let out a cry and jumped out of the way. It ended up hitting the ground, smashing into smithereens. The boy turned to Kumakan, exclaiming, "What did you do that for?! You could've hurt me!"

_"Perhaps that was not the kind of reaction I was expecting…"_ Kumakan thought. _"Anyone can dodge a rock, even a normal being."_

Sighing that he had to resort to this, he aimed his weapon's hilt at Chopper and fired a small, blue laser from it. Chopper was horrified at first, but he found himself clenching his fists and inhaling the attack before spitting it back at Kumakan. He easily jumped out of the way of the projectile before landing in front of him.

"Why did you try to attack me?!" Chopper cried.

"You didn't understand what I explained to you, so I decided to show you instead," Kumakan stated. "Tell me, Chopper… When you're in the middle of a fight, does something suddenly spark in you and makes you do something unlike anything you've done?"

"Well… I think so… Many times, actually." the four-year-old recalled. "There was one time when I was fighting some wizard and also some enemies... And there was that one time when I was running across the water, and I suddenly found myself jumping around like crazy. Also, when I copy these strange abilities, I'm not sure what happens, but I end up doing something strange anyway without realizing it. It's like something's controlling these weird powers. It might be because of that heart."

"Is that so? Anything else?"

"Ummmmmm… Oh, yeah! I fought against this weird alien guy on the beach, and I suddenly got really, really mad. I don't know what happened after that, though. But I felt kind of weak after that…"

"I see…" Kumakan trailed. "However, if you cannot control your powers, I believe they will not help you grow as a fighter."

"But I honestly don't want to be forced to fight!"

"Well, one who is forced to fight is usually not as strong as one who chooses to fight most of the time… Anyway, the only way I can even help you train is if you practice some of your fighting skills. Since you don't seem to carry any weapons, we'll try hand-to-hand."

After spinning his hilt one last time, he placed the weapon back on his waist. "I'm not one of the best hand-to-hand fighters out there, but I have learned a few things…"

"Wait… But I'm not that good at fighting like this!" Chopper cried, jumping away from one of Kumakan's kicks.

"I never said anything about you being skilled," Kumakan mentioned. "Did you know that fighting is sometimes considered a sport?"

"A…sport?" the boy gawked before getting knocked back by another kick.

"You fool! You should've been paying attention! A true warrior never leaves himself off guard. You should've been well aware of that!"

Chopper slowly got up, rubbing his head in the process. Kumakan, however, still did not hold back and kicked him again. This went on for about five minutes, with Chopper getting hit each time.

"This is hopeless," Kumakan sighed. "See, if you can't control your powers such as your agility and dodging, you won't be able to fight as well. That power can't always save you, you know."

"But… I'm not sure how to control it!" Chopper cried. "And it's not fair that you're trying to do this to me when I was just in a big fight!"

Unsure of how to counter his argument, he went back into his hut and came back with some apples and oranges. Tossing them to Chopper, he turned away from him. "Eat those quickly, then we'll get back to training."

When he turned to Chopper again, he raised an eyebrow when he saw all the food gone already. "Strange…"

"About the whole controlling thing…" Chopper started, grabbing Kumakan's attention. "I think the only one I understand how to use is the running, jumping and that inhaling thing. Maybe because I was using that the most?"

"I see… So you can at least control a few things. However, that alone will not help you. You need to learn how to be able to fight back easily while being able to control your powers, because only then will it help you at simply random moments in a fight. …Since fighting you doesn't seem to be working too well, I think I have a much better solution. This was used to help delve into our minds and try to contain what sort of skills we have in order to control our fighting skills in a fight much better and sense our enemies approaching. Most of the time this was used for those who have issues with combat."

Chopper was starting to feel very confused. "What do you want me to do?"

"We would always meditate and try to find the power from within ourselves. It helps improve your skills in fighting, and it gives you an idea of what kind of abilities you're capable of. By knowing of this, us warriors could face off against enemies we've feared for so long. Sadly, this can only be done once."

"Oh, well that sounds easy!"

"It's much harder than you think," Kumakan stated, which nearly brought Chopper's hopes down. "However, depending on the power you carry, this can take seconds…or forever. I suggest you meditate now so you can get a better idea of what you are capable of."

"OK, I'll try," Chopper nodded, sitting down and closing his eyes. "Ummmm… What do I do?"

"You must slowly relax and ease your mind. You must focus your mind on the power you are looking for."

"OK…" Chopper obeyed and tried to ease his mind and relax.

* * *

Concentrating, he saw a vision of a large, grassy landscape with a beautiful, blue sky. A bright light shined from the heart-shaped clouds, and a rainbow heart began to slowly descend down. Chopper felt as if he was in this landscape too, and by touching the heart, it only transformed into energy and went into him. He tightly closed his eyes, cringing from the energy surging into him.

Opening his eyes, he saw a replica of himself in front of him smiling and waving. "Hi there, Chopper!"

"Huh? Are you…me?" Chopper gaped.

"Uh huh!" the replica nodded. "I see you're trying to learn how to control your powers. That's where I come in to play! To understand how to control your powers to fight, you first must understand yourself. You know, to discover what your weaknesses are."

"Weaknesses?" Before Chopper could say more, the replica charged and managed to deliver a kick to his face, knocking him onto the grassy floor. "Hey! I wasn't ready for that!"

"Ahhh… See? Even in a conversation, you should always be on guard in case if the enemy tries to sneak in an attack! Many baddies will do something like that, because they're, well, bad!"

Chopper slowly got up and rubbed his head. "Oh, OK…"

His replica came charging at him again. Chopper felt something spark inside of him that gave him an angry look and allowed him to defend against the kick. He threw in a punch, but his replica managed to defend against it. Soon both were exchanging blow to blow in a very fast manner that it was very difficult to see. They were constantly moving around and even jumped in the air as well.

Unfortunately for Chopper, his replica managed to bring both of his fists down on his head and throw him onto the ground. Landing, the replica walked over to Chopper and helped him up.

"Hey, that wasn't so bad!" the replica smiled. "Now try to do that without your power helping you."

"Wait… Huh? How can I do something like that?" Chopper gawked. "I can't do that!"

"You may think that, but you're just as wrong as you think. Remember when you faced Trinado when you used that sword? Believe it or not, a lot of that was you."

"…Are you serious?"

"You betcha!" the replica nodded. "Here's a little something you might find interesting… When you end up getting an ability such as a sword or a hammer, you don't have many problems fighting with them because you understand their abilities. Some newer abilities, like the Needle or Wheel are much more difficult for you to use because you're not fully used to them. In time, you will be able to understand those abilities. Anyway…"

The replica came charging at Chopper again and landed a few punches on him. Chopper managed to at least defend himself after the last punch and managed to land a decent punch on the replica's face and send him flying back. He soon blasted off to reach the replica and stopped him by jumping in the air and throwing his foot on his head to knock him onto the floor. A small crater was created in the process.

Landing, Chopper looked at his foot in amazement. "Whoa… I never knew I could do that. I thought my attacks would be useless."

"Hmmmmmm… I think I might understand now." the replica said, quickly getting up and approaching Chopper. "I think I might know why you don't have perfect control over your powers."

"You do?"

"Yeah. While fighting with you, I looked through your mind and saw the power of the Sacred Heart. That heart has its own fate, and it chooses its host."

"Fate? What do you mean?"

"The heart is meant to be given to a hero who would save the world from evil beings like Maquano. The host, however, must understand what they'll be receiving from this heart and accept their fate as a hero. Only then will they gain complete control over the new powers they're given. If a host does not, then they will have a difficult time using some certain powers. The heart's power might randomly come to use during a battle or when you're in danger. Sure, it may have been a bit easy for you at first, but as you progressed, some points were rather…difficult for you. Or maybe it's just that you feel lonely."

"I don't like being lonely like this," Chopper sighed. "I thought this would be interesting at first, but I don't have many people to talk to. I still miss my mommy and daddy too. …Wait, how do you even know all of this?"

"Because…" a demented grin now formed over the replica's face as he was slowly covered in darkness. _**"I once got my hands on the Sacred Heart!"**_

The peaceful, blue sky slowly changed to black, and the replica started to disappear and appear as two, glowing purple eyes. The wind around Chopper grew heavier as he looked at the figure in horror.

"Who… Who ARE you?!" Chopper cried.

_**"****You don't understand? What a shame… You know, you weren't the first to get their hands on that heart! In fact, I was one of the first ones to grab a hold of it over a thousand years ago! Too bad I ended up losing that thing, because it sure would have come in handy against those heroes!"**_

"W-Wait… So was all of that you said just a big fat lie?"

_**"****No no. None of that was a lie."**_ the figure replied. _**"All of that was the truth. In fact, I'd like to see you be able to accept your fate as a hero, because maybe then, we can finally face each other when I finally make my return. I'll finally redeem myself after what **__**he**__** and his friends did to me… In the meantime…"**_

The figure began to lash at Chopper, who continued to watch in horror as a large, shadow hand appeared and was about to grab him. He quickly covered his face, expecting the worse.

* * *

Chopper quickly opened his eyes and was shaking in fear. However, looking at his surroundings, he discovered he was back in the poison forest, near the hut. Rubbing his eyes for a moment, he looked up at Kumakan, whose arms were crossed.

"So, did you experience the training?" Kumakan asked.

"Yeah, I think I did…" Chopper nodded, slowly getting up. "I think I also know why I have a bit of a difficult time using these powers too. I think it has to do something about me accepting my fate as a hero."

"I see… I was thinking it had to do something about that. If that's the case, then it's your only option."

"But… I don't know if I'm ready for something like this."

"Look, Chopper, some things have to change, for the better or for the worse. Life cannot always stay the same, or else the world would become very dull." Kumakan got in a fighting stance. "Now let's see if you've improved."

Seeing Kumakan charge at him, Chopper defended himself against the attack and landed a kick on Kumakan's body armor. Although it didn't seem to do much, it was able to push him back a little. He tried to land a punch, but Chopper simply jumped and landed on his arm instead.

"Is this your doing?" Kumakan wondered.

"I don't know," Chopper shrugged, jumping off the Spectral Warrior's arm and landing on the dark green grass. He remained in a fighting stance, preparing for what would be coming next.

"I think this is all the training I'm going to give you for now," the knight stated. "I can see you have improved somewhat, but I still believe there is more to you than you believe. Just understand that you must accept your fate, and you can possibly bring out your full potential and fully control these powers."

Chopper gave him a look of uncertainty in response.

"Anyway, I made a promise to you, so I should get to that right away. Follow me."

Chopper followed Kumakan to the chasm on the left side of the forked road, and upon showing up, the Spectral Warrior looked down at the poisonous river below leading to the ocean, along with the waterfall.

He closed his eyes for a brief moment and opened them to thrust his arms forward and open his hands. A wave of energy struck the chasm and created a spectral road leading to the other side.

Of course, Chopper couldn't help but be amazed his this.

"Cross this road, and you will be led to Poisna's Casino Club. Though, just a warning: they don't allow children in there."

"Why not?" Chopper gawked.

"Most likely because they don't want children taking their jewels. But regardless, I believe you can get in there somehow. However, you might have to force yourself in through some violence."

"Violence? But… I don't want to have to resort to that!" When Chopper turned around, he noticed Kumakan was gone. "Kumakan? Where'd you go?"

He turned back and noticed the spectral road was starting to fade away. With little time left, he sped across the road and reached the other side of the chasm. Sighing, he followed the road ahead and noticed fewer trees around. The sky was also dark, with the full moon shining down from the sky.

After a minute had passed, Chopper discovered the trail had finally come to an end and led him to a large, grassy landscape with a large building up ahead in the size of a skyscraper. It was a dark gray filled with many purple, pink and green lights.

"Strange… There aren't any trees around here… What happened to them?" Chopper wondered, walking off the trail and sliding down one of the hills. Taking a closer look, he saw a large amount of strange people walking into the building, and the line was certainly big. A large, red rug happened to be in front of the entrance, strangely.

He glared at the large billboard in front of the building with Poisna's face on it as he began to speed his way toward the skyscraper. With the skills he had learned from that little training, Chopper had a feeling this may not be as difficult as he originally thought. However, the thoughts of that dark being in his mind began to plague his mind.

_"I don't know what that thing was, but at least I don't have to worry about that for now,"_ Chopper thought. _"There are more important things that I have to worry about!"_

At that point, Chopper began to move at full speed toward the Casino Club.

* * *

**Originally, I had intended to have only the fight in this chapter, but I felt that it would make this chapter a bit too short, so I added in a couple of new stuff. Personally, I like this chapter a whole lot more than the previous two (not saying they're bad, I just think this one had a lot more). In fact, this could be one of my favorite chapters so far!**

**If some people weren't aware, there's a bit of a connection between this story and A Thousand Years Ago (if you haven't read that, go right ahead if you want). There might not be a whole lot, but there are just a few you might see.**


	22. The Big Gamble

Chapter 22: The Big Gamble

As he got closer to the building, he noticed a large fountain right by the entrance. Chopper couldn't see what kind of people were coming into the building, but they appeared to be much more advanced than the Treedos and Pyramins. They were about four and a half feet tall and had purple, poisonous hair. Their skin was peach like a human's as well. In fact, they seemed to resemble humans a whole lot!

Standing by the entrance of the Casino Club were two, large men resembling the other people in line, except they were bigger, more muscular, and they wore suits, along with sunglasses. They gave the OK to the people that were entering the building, until they discovered an ID not resembling the person they looked at.

"This is a fake ID," the first guard said, looking down at the teenage person known as a Tupan. "You don't look like anyone at the age of thirty. This place ain't for people like you, so allow me to escort you outta here."

The guard grabbed the teenager and threw him over a few hilltops in the distance. Afterward, he quickly got back to business.

Chopper was left in shock at how far that guard managed to throw that teenager, but then he remembered he had learned a few things back with Kumakan, so he believed he was prepared. On the other hand, the strength of that guard was very impressive.

Since there weren't any other ways into the building, he had no other choice but to take the front entrance instead. Chopper rushed toward the line and quickly made a big leap over the crowd to land in front of the entrance. Some Tupans were left gawking, while others complained about him getting to the front of the line.

"Say, how'd this creature get over to the front of the line?" the first Tupan guard asked his comrade.

"Beats me," the second one replied. "I wasn't paying any attention to him."

"Can you please let me in?" Chopper asked innocently.

"Wait, it talks?!" the first Tupan guard gaped. "What the heck is this thing?"

"Well, if you're asking to go in, then you can forget it," the second Tupan guard stated. "This place isn't for kids like you. Princess Poisna does not appreciate children coming in and taking her precious jewels away from her. This place is for more…civilized people."

"But I need to go in there!" Chopper cried. "That Poisna person has something that I need!"

"Yeah, sure it must sound very…" the first Tupan guard paused for a moment and took out a note given to him by the princess. "Wait a second… Didn't the princess tell us that if someone asked us about something she was holding, then the person was confirmed as someone named Chopper?"

"Yeah! But…" the second guard looked down at Chopper. "This is the person who's after what the princess holds? That's pretty pathetic!"

"Heh heh, yeah…" the guard put his note away and looked back down at Chopper. "All right, you should be no problem getting away. Off you go now!"

The two guards gawked as they realized Chopper was no longer standing in the spot he was at before. Before they could question where he went, they heard the sound of a door swing open and a pale green figure running into the building.

"Hey! That kid's running straight in there! What do we do?!"

"Relax. He won't make it far when we warn the other guards inside. They'll grab him and throw him off the continent for sure! But for now, let's get back to work."

With that aside, the two Tupan guards began to check for IDs and threw out any who were not welcome.

* * *

**Inside-**

Seeing the interior of the Casino Club certainly surprised Chopper. The very room he stood in was absolutely massive with many Tupans walking around and gambling. There was even a little shop that was selling some toys such as little dolls of Poisna. The carpet he stood on was red, and the walls and ceiling were bright lavender. Several slot machines were around, along with some tables where a few people played cards. All the machines had bright lights on them, making the room very bright.

"Gee… This place sure is weird." Chopper commented. "What are all of these things here?"

He approached one machine and pressed a button on it. _"Hello there, sucker—I mean customer! You want to gamble to your heart's consent? Just throw in some Clarins and you'll be ready to win some gems if you win. Did I mention these gems are worth more than Clarins?"_

"Clarins? I swear I've heard that before..."

Chopper pressed the button again, only to have the machine repeat itself. Pressing it a couple more times started the speech from the beginning. He was about to punch the machine, but he noticed something lying on the ground. It was a small, rectangular-shaped piece of soft, silver paper. Picking it up, the number twenty was labeled on it, along with a word called "Clarins".

"This is a Clarin? What is this used for anyway?" Chopper wondered.

"They're currency on this planet, kid," Turning around, Chopper saw two Tupan guards tower over him. "We've heard of a little kid running into this place, and we suspect that kid to be you."

"Ummmmmm… No, I'm not that kid."

"Pbbbbbbth! That's the best you can come up with?" the second Tupan guard laughed. "Children aren't allowed in this casino! Princess Poisna doesn't appreciate any children running around and causing a ruckus. I'm afraid we're going to have to toss you out."

He charged at Chopper and attempted to grab him, but he soon noticed the boy was out of his sight in a split second, as if he teleported out of his sight.

"Wait… What the…"

The guards turned around and saw Chopper running from them. The second guard clenched his fist in anger and grit his teeth. "That brat! How'd he move that fast!?"

"That's not what matters! We gotta go after him!" the first Tupan guard exclaimed, running after the boy. The other followed him, hoping to catch Chopper and perhaps teach him a lesson or two.

While running, Chopper decided to take a look at the Clarin he held in his hands. "So… What do they use these things for?"

As he looked up, he found himself running straight into a slot machine. Chopper jumped and ended up landing on a lever to trigger the machine. A Tupan using it gawked as Chopper jumped off the lever and caused three sevens to appear on the slot machine, thus making jewels spit out.

"Woo hoo! I'm rich!" he cheered, only to get stepped on by the two Tupan guards chasing after Chopper. "Oh, my aching…"

"So, this kid doesn't appear to be giving up, so should we try to use force?" the first Tupan guard asked his comrade.

"Well, I'm sure the princess would appreciate force on someone who's after something she holds, right? So, yeah! We'll give this kid all we've got!"

They spotted Chopper running straight to a hallway ahead, so they followed and smirked, knowing where this would eventually lead. For Chopper, he was unfortunate to ignore some of the doors and run into a dead end.

"Uh oh… There's nothing here…" Chopper trailed, turning around to see the two Tupan guards standing over him once again.

"Look, kid, you're not welcome here," the second Tupan guard said. "Either you take a hike, or we do this the hard way!"

"Hey, you said we'd use force!"

"Oh… Good point there, bud."

Chopper looked up at the Tupan guards, who began to crack their knuckles and grin at the boy. While he wished he could run from them, he had a feeling that running would not help him overall. Taking a deep breath, he clenched his fists, got in a fighting stance, and cast a glare at the two guards.

"Oh, look! He thinks he can take us on!" the two Tupan guards began to laugh like idiots. One of them even began to roll on the floor while continuously laughing. This only got Chopper more irritated.

"Hey, don't underestimate me!" Chopper scoffed. "I've beaten many bad guys on this planet, and you're probably nothing compared to them!"

"Underestimate you? Oh, no! Some kid thinks he's got what it takes to beat us!" the Tupan guard stopped laughing and approached Chopper. "OK, the fun's over now. Time for you to leave!"

Thrusting his hand forward, the guard attempted to grab Chopper, only for him to miss and feel someone's feet land on his arm. Looking down at his arm, he saw Chopper standing on it.

"Hey… What the…"

Before saying any more, Chopper managed to land a kick to his face to knock him over. The other guard was left in both shock and disgust. He decided to land a punch on him, but Chopper was too fast for him and landed on his head. The guard prepared to bonk him, but the pale green boy quickly jumped off, causing the Tupan guard to bonk his head and knock himself out in the process.

Landing on the ground, Chopper looked down at the two unconscious Tupan guards while sighing in relief. "At least I didn't have to hurt them too much. That last one ended up hitting himself instead."

He jumped over the two guards and returned to the larger section of the room. Staring at the twenty Clarin bill he held, Chopper took a look at one of the machines. At this point, he started to wonder if he should try out one of the machines. Just as he was about to approach a slot machine, a voice echoed through the whole room.

_"Attention, guests! Princess Poisna will be at the theater in approximately thirty minutes, and after her announcement, she will be signing autographs in the theater's main lobby. Be sure to get a seat as early as possible! They are limited!"_

Chopper heard the sounds of people stepping away from the machines and hurrying over to the theater like an elephant stampede. Very few were left in the large room, leaving many machines wide open. Even at some poker tables, some chips were left open to take. A few Tupans decided to steal a few and walk away as if they were minding their own business.

He looked back at the twenty Clarin bill with a sour expression. "This thing is probably useless!" Throwing it behind him, he walked away as it began to slowly land on the carpet. A few Tupans noticed the money and began to pounce on it like a pack of hungry hyenas.

Chopper followed a few people over to the theater by a hallway to the right, leading to a large lobby with about three doors going into the theater. When he entered, he discovered nearly every seat to be taken. Leading up to the front seat, there was a stage and a podium. Perhaps that was where Poisna would be?

"I guess I have to wait…" Chopper trailed, sitting down on the floor and waiting patiently. Unfortunately, his sit didn't last long when a Tupan guard approached him from behind.

"Hey, are you going to take your seat or what you…" he paused for a moment when the boy turned around. "Wait a sec… You're that kid those guards contacted us about! Hate to say it, but you gotta leave."

Chopper quickly shook his head, irritating the Tupan guard and forcing him to grab him. Chopper easily jumped over his arm and landed on his head to use the same strategy on the previous guard. He succeeded as soon as he jumped off when the Tupan guard was about to bonk him, making him bonk his own head instead to knock himself out.

"Wow, I can't believe they actually fall for something like that," Chopper said, surprised to see his strategy worked again. "Maybe I don't have to fight these guys if I can make them hurt themselves instead!"

Chopper went back to sitting down again and began to wait the thirty minutes.

* * *

**Thirty minutes later-**

Though there was not much for him to do during that time, Chopper was a bit relieved that he did not have to deal with any guards. He found himself daydreaming about food and his family. Those thoughts, however, were soon interrupted by a voice.

"Ladies and gentlemen… The wait is finally over!" a Tupan wearing a tuxedo exclaimed, walking onto the stage with a spotlight on him. "Your dear princess has finally arrived! Give a round of applause to Princess Poisna!"

The audience cheered wildly as a Tupan girl at around the age of fourteen stepped into the stage with a couple of spotlights shining down on her. Unlike most Tupans, her purple hair had a poison mist. Her fingers had different sorts of rings as well, and her purple robe had many sorts of jewels as well. She also wore purple earrings as well.

Chopper could easily tell this was the girl on that billboard, but unlike the crowd, he appeared to be very quiet.

"Thank you all for coming here!" Poisna exclaimed cheerfully. "Just remember that I'm number one here! Nobody else!"

The audience applauded for her, while a few cheered. Poisna tried to give them her best smile as she took out a piece of paper and placed it on the podium. "While I'm here, I'd like to make a few announcements for the Casino Club! For starters, this place will be open from seven in the morning until midnight, so if I catch anyone in here past midnight, you're going to face some serious consequences! Secondly, we have just put up some warning signs for the Virtual Pinball that's located up on the second floor to give people a heads up of what to expect! …Well, unless you can't read, then there's nothing I can do to help."

_"A Virtual Pinball? Does that have to do with pinning balls?"_ Chopper thought in confusion.

"And finally…" Poisna started, eyeing the paper. "We have designed a new security system for any floors above the second one so that if we catch any unwanted guests, we let our little statues blast them to ashes for us! So, I certainly don't want to have any idiots perish because of this, because it is their fault and therefore not our responsibility. Those who try to sue us will get what's coming, you got that?!"

The crowd chose to respect Poisna's rules and clapped for her. Chopper, on the other hand, had no understanding of what she was talking about.

"Thank you very much! Just remember that I still love all of you!"

Chopper felt something in his inventory glowing, so he checked and saw what was causing it. He noticed the Power Star Piece was flashing a couple of times, indicating that another piece was nearby.

"She must have it all right!" Chopper nodded, looking up at Poisna. Strangely, something was glowing in her robe, which caught her attention.

"What the… What's glowing in my robe?" Poisna reached for what was in her robe and pulled out the Power Star Piece. It appeared to be flashing at a fast pace. "Wait… Weren't the others supposed to keep their piece with them in a different area? Why would they come and… Wait a minute…"

Looking dead ahead where the theater's exit was, she saw Chopper holding the merged Power Star Pieces in his right hand. "Oh, no… The others must've been beaten."

Knowing that Poisna saw him, Chopper ran past a few seats a leaped up to the stage. A couple of Tupans in the crowd gazed in amazement at his jump, along with the landing he made in front of Poisna.

"Hey, I didn't know we'd have something like this here!" one Tupan mentioned.

"This is getting better and better!"

When Chopper faced Poisna, he gave her a glare. "So you're that weird whatever you are that's carrying something I need!"

"Weird?! Look who's talking, whatever the heck you are! Who do you think you are, stealing my spotlight?! This is MY Casino Club, and this is MY Power Star Piece!" Poisna spat back before pausing for a moment to look at Chopper. "…Wait, hold on, you are Chopper, right?"

"Yeah, that's right!"

Poisna couldn't help but laugh loudly. "You? Chopper? HA HA HA HA! Is this some sort of joke? I mean look at yourself! You look like you're hardly capable of doing _anything!_"

"Well… I managed to take on three baddies who held a Power Star Piece!" Chopper shot back.

She was about to yell at him again, but seeing the audience, Poisna decided to try to do this in a "mature" fashion. At least, in her eyes. "Guards! Please escort this unwanted protrusion out of my Casino Club!"

Poisna smirked as she waited for some Tupan guards to show up. To her surprise, however, there were none that showed up. She noticed one of the guards by the theater exit knocked out.

"Oh… They're…knocked out."

"I know, now please give me what I need to stop Maquano," Chopper pleaded, holding his hand out. Poisna, however, put the Power Star Piece away and shot a purple laser from one of her rings near Chopper's foot. He quickly jumped back in shock as Poisna glared at him.

"In your dreams, kid! Why would I give up something as beautiful as gems? I'm even lucky to have gotten this thing from Lord Maquano in the first place, despite not liking the idea at first." Poisna snapped her finger, summoning two Jewelites that carried a chair. She got on it and began to exit the room. "Come out, my children, and do away with this dweeb! As for everyone else here, you're allowed to go!"

Two Jewelites, Jewlies, a Jewelar and the orange jeweled hammer creature called a Jewelmer emerged from the curtains and charged at the boy. While most of the Tupans in the theater began to leave, some decided to sit and watch the party. Most of them believed Poisna's minions would be victorious, though.

"OK… I think I know what I should do first." Chopper turned to the Jewelmer and inhaled it to gain the Hammer ability. Afterward, the Jewelar tried to slam its head down on him, but he dodged it and bashed its head to leave it severely damaged. He jumped in the air and struck the two Jewelites with a single hammer spin to shatter them. "I think I understand some of these abilities better…"

The Jewlies began to fire small shards directly at Chopper, but thanks to his hammer, he was able to block them and spin his hammer, along with himself around to hit both Jewlies and take them out. Now all that remained was that damaged Jewelar.

Chopper was about to attack the Jewelar, but it opened its mouth and shot a purple projectile that knocked him off the stage. Some remaining Tupans in the audience gawked, but they saw Chopper quickly get up and jump back to the Jewelar. Raising his hammer like a bat, the hammer lit on fire before he struck the Jewelar's head with a powerful, upward thrust, destroying it in an instant.

"That takes care of them… Now where did Poisna go?" Chopper wondered. "I guess I should go ask someone…"

Noticing the Tupan guard waking up, he saw this as an opportunity to ask, so he rushed over to him and jumped on his chest.

"Hey, I need to ask you something."

"Unnghh… My head…" the Tupan guard slowly opened his eyes and saw Chopper standing on him. "Hey! You're the one that made me knock myself out!"

"Can you answer a question for me first?" Chopper asked. "I need to know where Poisna is."

"Pbbbbth! I ain't telling you! You're not welcome here!"

"But you can't really beat me. Just tell me and I'll just leave you be, OK?"

"…Fine. She's at the top floor of this place. However, it's not so easy to get there, because the elevators do have a toll! Not to mention there are a couple of traps around as well!"

"Thanks!" Chopper jumped off him and swiftly left the room in a snap just before the Tupan guard could grab him. Now back in the large room, he decided in order to get some jewels, he would have to use a little force, considering that he lacked any Clarins to even gamble.

Just as one Tupan was about to put some Clarins in the slot machine, Chopper smashed the machine with his hammer, making purple, red and green jewels spew out. He collected a handful before running away, while many Tupans who spotted the destroyed machine quickly grabbed some as well.

He reached a hallway that was dead ahead to the right and found two elevators. There were no signs of any enemies, so he pressed the up button to open the elevator and head inside. There were about ten floors to this building, but this one only went up to floor five. Annoyed, Chopper inserted the proper amount of jewels to the floor he believed he had enough jewels for: floor two. With that, the door closed and brought him up to the second floor.

Walking out of the elevator, Chopper noticed that the carpet in the hallway had many depictions of jewels on them. It seemed very nice to him, but that wasn't what he was supposed to do at the moment. Running to the right, he saw a patrol of Jewlies coming in his direction. Perhaps this was done by Poisna to slow him down?

Regardless of that, Chopper readied his hammer and began to perform his hammer spin on the Jewlies to take them out with ease. Afterward, he put his hammer away and ran through the hallway ahead to be met with a much larger room with a couple of panels and a rug with a pinball depiction.

Just as he was about to look up, he ended up getting knocked over by a gray, round jewel enemy with one eye. It managed to knock his Hammer ability away as well, which Chopper discovered when he stood up.

"Hey! What the heck?" Chopper looked back at the sphere-shaped jewel known as a Jewelball. It began to roll toward him again, but rather than give it a kick, he inhaled it and swallowed it to gain a shell of a red and blue ball on his head. "Huh? What kind of ability is this?"

Closing his eyes and clenching his fists, he used whatever power he had gained. Opening his eyes, he noticed he lacked arms and feet. His little hat didn't appear on his head either.

"Wh-What's going on?! What happened to my feet and arms?!" Chopper tried to move, but the only thing he could do was roll around on the floor. Three Darklings patrolling happened to notice him and flew in his direction.

"Hey, guys! Who wants to play some soccer?" the first Darkling asked, smacking Chopper around like a soccer ball.

"No way! Basketball's much better!" the second Darkling replied, bouncing Chopper like a basketball.

"How about a game of FOOTBALL?" the third Darkling suggested, throwing him like a football.

One of the Darklings tried to catch Chopper, but they only got crushed once he landed on one of them, causing them to explode. Chopper noticed this and finally realized what this power was.

"I think I know what this is…" Chopper changed his direction so he was going toward the two Darklings and began to bounce on the floor and ceiling. After destroying both, he closed his eyes and in a puff of smoke, he regained his hat, arms and feet. "I think… I think this is the Ball ability!"

He approached one of the panels nearby and noticed a sign now that he was safe.

_Welcome to the Virtual Pinball! Unfortunately, this machine has been banned from the Casino Club due to many injuries and deaths. We strongly advise you not to use this thing, unless you can't read or are too stupid to understand this. For those people, we are not responsible for your injuries or deaths, as they are the responsibility of yourself._

Curious about this Virtual Pinball, Chopper stepped on the panel and felt a beam of light come down on him and transport him inside the machine. He found himself in a large pinball course with a plunger, two flippers, a couple of bumpers, kickers, a few targets and a slot machine. The board had a design with a depiction of Chopper's head, along with a couple of stars plastered around as well.

Chopper landed on the plunger and gawked for a moment. Before he could wonder where he was, the plunger was pulled back, and then it launched Chopper into the game. He bumped into a few targets, along with the kickers near the two flippers.

"Ow! What the heck is going on?!" Chopper exclaimed, being launched upward by one of the flippers.

He bumped into one of the bumpers and was sent flying back down to one of the flippers. It sent him flying back up again, but this time, rather than landing on the flippers again, he was caught in between a couple of bumpers.

Closing his eyes, Chopper transformed into a ball, and surprisingly, he didn't feel himself getting harmed by the bumpers. He was also able to control himself in the pinball machine easily as well and bounced off one of the walls to land in one of the slot machines. It contained matches of himself, a purple jewel, a jackpot, and Maquano's face. The slot machine landed a perfect match of Chopper heads, allowing Chopper to gain some jewels in the process.

"Hey… I think I understand this game…" Chopper realized, popping out of the slot machine and bumping into a kicker. "That slot machine can give me jewels, and I even gain a few from hitting these obstacles too!"

So he had spent a while in the pinball machine gathering as many jewels as he could. He landed on a match of Maquano in the slot machine at least once, which cut his jewel count in half, but Chopper easily regained them when he had landed a jackpot. Despite landing down the pit, he ended up coming back to the plunger and proceeded to do the same thing again until his time was up in the pinball machine. Chopper was quickly transported back to the panel he was stood on, but this time, he was carrying a load of jewels with him.

"Wow! That sure was fun!" Chopper cheered, holding a pile of jewels in both hands. "They said that machine was dangerous, but it sure was fun as a ball!"

He returned to the elevator and discovered that he had enough jewels to go to the highest floor he could access so far. Chopper placed the jewels in the hole next to the "five" button and pressed it. In no time, he was taken up to the fifth floor.

When the elevator door opened, Chopper was left in surprise when he noticed the hallway he walked into was now as bright and colorful as the previous two floors. In fact, it was very dim, and the carpet itself was purple with a depiction of Poisna and a cloud of poison behind her. The lights on the walls were a dull yellow, and the wallpaper was torn up as well. …Or was that really part of the wallpaper?

He looked in both directions and saw one door to the left that was locked, while the one to the right wasn't. These doors appeared to be black with a hint of red to them. It certainly didn't look like anything Poisna would have.

Regardless of that, Chopper took the door to the right and quickly kicked it open. His eyes widened when he nearly fell into a pit of lava that was in front of him. Around him were a couple of wooden platforms attached to the walls in a spiral fashion. The room itself was round as well.

Before doing anything, something popped out of the lava and let out a roar. From what Chopper could recall, he had run into something like that back in the desert castle where Stoneard was.

The Tartara Worm proceeded to shoot projectiles from its mouth in Chopper's direction. He was about to turn into a ball, but he realized it would be too dangerous when there was lava in the room. Instead, he removed his ability, inhaled the projectile the Tartara Worm fired at him, and spat it back at the creature, causing it to sink into the lava.

Chopper sighed in relief and began to cautiously jump up the wooden platforms. He nearly missed one, but he managed to grab on to the platform's edge and pull himself up. Afterward, it was smooth sailing from there.

When he eventually reached the top of the room, he noticed the highest platform was much larger and was in black and red. Two Tartara Engineers were trying to tune up some blasters. A small table held a black and red key.

But that wasn't what Chopper was staring at at the moment. The fact that Tartaras were in a place like this was what left him shocked. _"Oh, no... Not these things! I thought for a second I wouldn't have to deal with them! ...At least they can't see me."_

"Ugh... Tuning these things can be such a pain." one of the engineers grumbled. "They take forever!"

"Well, sometimes for something to work right, they need some time to be worked on," the second Tartara noted. "Besides... Lord Maquano ordered us to do so. We'd seriously be toast if we disobeyed."

"Mmmmm... Good point. But still, doing these are annoying. Maybe they'll be worth it in the end. I'd especially love to blast that Chopper kid! I heard he's taken down Steelfoot lately..."

"Yeah. Lord Maquano sure did underestimate him after hearing those news. However, him defeating Poisna may be doubtful. Sure, she's the youngest of Lord Maquano's elites, but her jewels have powers of their own, along with those poison powers she possesses!"

"At least I'm on her side for once..." the first Tartara Engineer looked up and spotted Chopper. "Hey! Is that who I think it is?!"

"Uh oh..." Chopper gulped.

Hearing his friend's outburst, the second engineer looked in his direction as well. "Hey, that's Chopper! But how'd he get here!?"

"Let's not bother answering that. Let's toast him!"

The Tartaras aimed their weapons at Chopper and prepared to fire. Unfortunately for them, their weapons comically exploded, covering their faces in soot. The two engineers blinked for a moment before exchanging glances.

"Did our guns just...explode?"

"Yeah... This won't work well with Maquano if he finds out."

"...Or maybe he won't think about that when we catch Chopper! C'mon! Our weapons may be gone, but we've still got our claws, teeth and our tail on our side! That'll give him a good scare!"

The two Tartaras looked back at Chopper, only to notice he was gone. "What the... Where the heck did he go?!"

Their question was soon answered when they heard the door close from down below. They quickly whirled around to the table and noticed a certain key missing in its place.

"H-How'd he snatch that?!" the first engineer gaped.

"He must've been way too fast for us to see! We should try to go after him."

"Forget it. He'll be way too fast for us to catch. Plus, if we were caught not doing our job, things would certainly get hairy for us – or scaley, whichever one works."

Sighing, the second engineer turned its attention back to the damaged weapon and began to fix it.

* * *

**Fifth floor, hallway-**

"That was surprisingly easy," Chopper remarked, holding the key in his hands as he ran toward the door straight ahead. "I'm kinda glad I didn't have to fight them. I've never went up against those types of baddies..."

When he reached the door, he placed the key in the lock and turned it, breaking it off and unlocking the door. With a smile on his face, Chopper entered the room, unaware that a figure wearing a cape was walking out of the elevator door.

Inside the room, Chopper was even more surprised than with the hallway. There was very little light in the room, and the carpet was very difficult to see. One thing for sure was that it was black and sported two, red eyes and a mouth. The center of the room sported a table with a red crystal ball, and in the right corner was a bed, and to the left was a closet.

"What kind of room is this?" Chopper wondered, taking a couple of steps inside the room to allow the door to close on him from behind, which nearly startled him and made the room darker. The only thing he could see in the room was the crystal ball, so he approached it slowly to get a better look.

"What is this thing? It almost looks like some clear ball thing. ...Wait, is something coming up?"

From inside the crystal ball, Chopper noticed black smoke appearing in a wavy fashion. It almost looked like something was coming up. Two, glowing red eyes appeared from within the ball. As the smoke finally cleared, Chopper could get a glimpse of Maquano with his arms crossed.

"Is that Maquano?" Chopper gawked, taking a closer look at him. What also seemed strange was the surrounding he was in. It looked so...familiar.

"Did someone call for me?"

Chopper turned around and gasped when he saw Maquano standing right at the doorway. However, remembering what he had done, he gave the demon knight a cold glare.

"Maquano!"

"Someone is certainly surprised to see me," Maquano said devilishly, allowing the door to close behind him. "And look at you! You look like you really want to take me down! So, how's your family? ...Oh, right!"

"You got rid of them, you big bully!" Chopper shouted back. "I'm going to make you pay for that!"

"'Bully'? Is that the best you can come up with?" the demon knight cackled. "I'm sure you're wondering what this room is anyway. Let me answer that with a quick clap!"

A single clap from Maquano's hands caused the room to suddenly light up. The lanterns on the walls and the chandelier on the ceiling were purple with a hint of black in them. The room itself was also changed to the evil, purplish black color as well.

"You see, Chopper… This is considered to be a guest room…or rather, my room for this place whenever I stay here. I was planning on putting ones for each of my elite minion's hideouts, but after thinking, this was really the only place I could stand to be in. How do you like it? It's rather fitting for someone like myself."

However, Chopper was no longer paying attention to the scenario around him and clenched his fists. "Let's end this right now!"

"You want to fight me? All right! Then again, I wanted to see what you were capable of anyway." Maquano cracked his knuckles and stared down at the boy. "And hey, maybe I'll be a little fair and not use my sword against you, just like I used to destroy your father."

Seeing as Chopper wanted to charge at him immediately, Maquano remained calm and kept his guard down. "Go right ahead, Chopper. Attack me! I'll give you the first strike!"

Chopper let out a battle cry and charged head-on toward Maquano. Jumping in the air, he kicked Maquano's chest. He seemed happy at first, but he noticed the demon knight hardly flinched. This time he tried punching, but that hardly did much either. In fact, when Chopper stepped back, Maquano nearly brushed off his armor.

"Well that certainly tickled. Is that all you've got?"

Annoyed with his taunt, Chopper opened his mouth and began to inhale. At first, Maquano was surprised by this ability, but he decided to remain calm and stood still. Chopper inhaled a stronger amount of air, but Maquano hardly moved an inch. The only thing that appeared to be moving was his cape.

Realizing this wasn't working, Chopper stopped and panted, now exhausted. "How come that didn't work?"

"Let's just say that I have my…secrets," Maquano answered.

Despite being exhausted, Chopper charged at Maquano and tried kicking at his face. Of course, him wearing a helmet, it hardly did much to him. When he landed, Maquano grabbed him by the antennas and lifted him off the ground.

"So… It was you who managed to possess the Sacred Heart… Can't say I'm too impressed, because from what I've heard, it's capable of matching my power. However, I guess destroying that thing wouldn't do much against me anyway."

Chopper ignored him and tried to swing a couple of punches at him. "I won't forgive you for what you did to my family!"

"Yeah, keep doing that, kid. It's not like it's going to do much against me." Maquano chuckled. "Anyway, since you can't do much of a thing against me, I might as well make my move."

Using the palm of his hand, he managed to strike Chopper and send him flying against the wall. Maquano began to approach him while he was slowly getting up.

"Why did you have to destroy my planet?" Chopper wheezed, giving him a glare. "Our planet's done nothing to you…"

"You might be a little surprised, but your people actually _did_ do something to me," Maquano answered. "However, most of the time, I destroyed your planet for two things. One, to get rid of that Sacred Heart that I FAILED to destroy, and two, because it's fun."

"Fun? What do you mean?"

"I find it very enjoyable to take away lives. It just feels so…satisfying. You wanna know the feeling I got from eradicating your father? Let's just say I had such a big grin on my face!"

"You… You big jerk!" Chopper yelled, balling his hands into fists. He ran at Maquano again and kicked him again. It was not very effective…

Maquano simply kicked him away onto the floor and looked down at him. "Honestly, I thought this was going to be much more difficult. However, I'm only finding you to be a mere pushover. Heck, you're already exhausted after that kick!"

Chopper stood up once again, but this time he was having more trouble than usual. Maquano shrugged and opened his right hand before aiming it down at Chopper.

"Such a shame that it has to end this way, though. However, I will give you some credit. You did defeat Trinado, Stoneard and Steelfoot. Even if you were to defeat all of my elites, you would still be no match for me! Now, let me help you by letting you join back with all your people."

A dark ball of energy appeared in the palm of Maquano's hand. All Chopper could do was close his eyes and expect the worse.

_"I'm sorry I failed you, Mommy… I was hoping it wouldn't end this way…" _Chopper thought, a tear coming down his face.

Just as the dark power was about to be fired, Maquano heard his communicator going off. Annoyed, the dark ball of energy disappeared, and he pulled out his communicator.

"What is it, Camikon?!" Maquano yelled. "Can't you see I'm busy here!?"

_"My apologies, Lord Maquano, but this is an emergency!"_ Camikon cried through the communicator. Meanwhile, Chopper slowly opened his eyes and noticed he was still alive.

"What is so important enough for me to go back to the castle?"

_"No time for explaining! You must come here now!"_

Maquano groaned and glared at his communicator. "Fine. Only because it'll get you to shut up."

Putting away his communicator, Maquano turned his attention back to the boy. "It appears I must be going. Consider yourself lucky, Chopper. However, when we meet next time, I'm expecting a much better fight from you. If not… Well, I'm not giving you another chance like I have just now."

Turning away from Chopper, Maquano teleported out of the room. The boy was unsure of what to say at the moment, other than the fact that he was pretty exhausted at this point. Just from taking two hits from the demon knight, and now he didn't have much energy to move.

"That was pretty close…" Chopper wheezed. "But I think I should try to find something to help recover."

He took a look at the bed in the corner. A light bulb appeared over his head, giving him an idea of using it. Knocking the light bulb over his head away, Chopper approached the bed and climbed on it.

"I'll try not to sleep for too long. Only when I have enough energy."

Laying on the bed, Chopper fell asleep in no time.

* * *

**You know, originally I wasn't going to have Maquano appear here at all or in the second chapter, but I thought it would be more fitting for him to be here. Plus, we need a little something to force Chopper to become a lot better to fight him, right? It's just like with many bosses like Vile in Mega Man X.**

**The Ball ability was only used in Kirby's Adventure and its remake. Originally I didn't plan on putting it here, but with the pinball game, I thought it would work. It's not an ability I'm a big fan of, just like the Needle and Wheel ability (which was also in this world too).**

**And no, next chapter is not a boss chapter. This world is certainly much longer than the previous ones!**


	23. Poisna's Big Secret

Chapter 23: Poisna's Big Secret

After thirty minutes of rest, Chopper opened his eyes and sat up. From what he could recall, he ran into Maquano and was pretty much humiliated by him. He jumped off the bed and tried to recall what happened during the fight. All he could remember was not leaving a scratch of him.

"Gee… If Maquano's so strong, then how am I supposed to beat him now?" Chopper wondered. "This is going to be so annoying... I bet everyone is going to be so mad at me..."

Regardless of that, he opened the door and noticed a pile of jewels by the elevator. Surprised, Chopper ran over to the jewels and picked them up. However, when he saw a door close across from him, he suddenly knew how these might've gotten here. Picking up the jewels, Chopper carried them into the other elevator nearby and placed them right by where the "six" button was. The elevator door soon closed after the procedure and took him up to the sixth floor.

The sixth floor's surroundings were much similar to the fifth, only this one contained some lanterns on the walls that emitted a strange, poisonous mist. There were also a few statues of Poisna with glowing purple eyes with small lasers that checked the room for any intruders. To the left was a much larger room, and to the right, it split into two other hallways. The walls were also a purplish as well.

Unfortunately, the first thing that spotted him were three Darklings that were eager to fight him.

They spent no time talking and charged at Chopper, while he dodged their poisonous spells and jumped on their heads to easily defeat them. Unfortunately, where he landed, one of the statues spotted him and fired a quick laser at him. He was fortunate to get away from it in time.

"That was too close!" Chopper gasped, trying to stay away from the small laser that continued to look around the room. However, he noticed on the wall where the statues were, the lasers never appeared to go there. An idea struck his mind, so he placed himself against the wall and quickly sidled across the wall and went over to the larger room ahead.

He noticed a single slot machine and another door beside it. However, rather than having a depiction of poison on it, it had bright lights and was yellow and green instead. There were no signs to give him any warning, so Chopper shrugged and opened the door. To his surprise, he saw what appeared to be outside. Curious about this place, he entered the strange realm and noticed he was on a poker table. The sky was dark, but because of the lights in this place, it hardly made the whole area dark.

However, Chopper wasn't alone. A blue, pink and green jewel enemy that was slightly taller than Chopper were lurking around. Their arms were rather stubby, and they each had yellow eyes and a strange grin on their faces. They had stubby legs and carried a lance of their matching color, along with a matching shield. Obviously these were Jewelancer.

The first Jewelancer spotted Chopper and proceeded to charge at him. He simply inhaled the enemy and spat it at another to leave only one remaining. Rather than inhale it, he waited for the Jewelancer to charge at him so he could jump right on the side of its lance. He kicked at it, only for it to bring up its shield, so instead, Chopper jumped behind it and knocked it over before finishing it with a stomp.

"That was easy, though I don't understand what this place is…" Before Chopper could ponder, he saw giant cards coming down above him. He quickly ran out of the way and ran past stacks of chips around him until he reached the end. There, he saw cards acting as platforms. They appeared to be staying at a horizontal fashion for a brief moment before spinning to a vertical position.

Not only that, but the jump was pretty far, and falling was certainly not the best idea.

Taking a few steps back, Chopper ran toward the giant table at full speed and jumped toward the card once it was on its flat side. To his luck, he succeeded and landed on his two feet. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough time to stand on it, so he jumped over to the next card and landed on a red glowing pathway.

To his delight, the pathway was moving downward, so he began to speed down and go through a loop up ahead and up a large, red dice. In between the dice and the next dice ahead was a Jewelite.

Smiling, Chopper leaped in the air and bounced off the Jewelite's head to reach the next dice block. Afterward, he landed on a platform with a red platform and a tube that appeared to be in the shape of a ball. A panel with the Ball ability happened to be to the left corner of the platform too.

"The Ball ability again? Something tells me I'm doing something pinball-related again." Chopper mumbled, touching the panel and gaining the Ball ability again. "Though, how come I'm not pinning any balls in this game? That would be pretty exciting! Oh well…"

Chopper turned into a ball and hopped into the tube. It ended up bringing him on a giant pinball table, but rather than being a typical game, it was actually a large track going at a downward incline.

A couple of green bumpers slightly pushed him up when he ran into them, but it hardly did much to stop him from going downward. He at least ran into one ramp that prevented him from falling into a trap.

Another tube came up ahead, and Chopper rolled into it to get sent into another course. Only this time, there were a couple of numbers lit up in different colors from one to nine. Rolling into these earned Chopper some jewels. Getting the others in the proper order earned him even more.

The track eventually dropped down to a bouncy platform that Chopper ended up bouncing on as a ball. He transformed back into himself and saw a couple of red dice over another bottomless pit. Only this time, they were moving in a vertical fashion. However, this was something Chopper could easy jump across, so he jumped from dice to dice until he reached another red platform with a door that appeared to be locked, along with two Jewelancers.

Smiling, Chopper jumped in the air and transformed into a ball again. Sparkles surrounded him as his bouncing was faster, allowing him to smash through the Jewelancers' shields and shatter them. Afterward, he transformed back into himself.

"OK, so how do I get this door open?" Chopper wondered, trying to ram into it as a ball, only to fail to break through it. Eventually he noticed a small button on the bright wall beside the door. Knowing what he had to do, he transformed into a ball and bounced up to the button to hit it, opening the door.

The door ended up leading to a small hallway with bright yellow walls and a panel that was at the end of the room. Chopper ran up to the panel and stood on it, which quickly transported him out of the strange area and back to where he had found the door in the Casino Club. Beside him was a pile of jewels he had acquired from that strange place.

However, he wasn't exactly alone. Two Jewelancers and a Jewelite had spotted him and were charging. The Jewelite managed to hit Chopper with its eye laser, causing him to lose his ability. The two Jewelancers managed to swing their lances at Chopper and send him flying to the wall. All the Jewelancers could do was giggle before charging at him.

Opening his eyes, Chopper saw the enemies coming his way, so he pushed himself off the wall and leaped in the air to make the first Jewelancer's weapon get stuck in the wall. While the other one stopped, Chopper landed behind it and gave it a good kick to knock it toward the other jewel enemy, causing both to explode. Afterward, Chopper turned his attention to the Jewelancer.

When he discovered a small mirror to be in the room, Chopper ran toward it while dodging the laser. He grabbed it and held it in front of him to deflect the laser the Jewelite was stupid enough to fire to make it meet its doom.

"That was pretty close..." Chopper sighed, wiping his forehead. "And a bit unexpected..."

He left the room and returned to the hallway with the jewels. Chopper was about to sneak past the Poisna statues, but he stopped for a moment and looked at them. Poking it, it appeared to slightly shake for a moment. Since he wasn't in its sight, he kicked it, which knocked it to the ground and shattered it.

"I should really stop sneaking around so much... It's not going to help me fight against evil when all I do is just sneak around like a coward! I really think it's time for me to improve..."

Running past the elevator, Chopper jumped to the next statue and knocked it over in the same way as the other one. Afterward, he proceeded over to the end of the hallway, where there were two ways to go.

He chose to take the left hallway and entered through a door with a couple of slot machines. A couple of jewels were lying on the ground as well, but approaching one seemed to create a puff of smoke.

"Huh?" When the smoke cleared, Chopper saw a Ghool floating in front of him, giving him a silly look. "Oh, great… I thought ghosts were only in those weird woods? Don't tell me some are in here! Maybe that's why this room is a bit dark…"

Chopper found a Cutter ability panel in the room and touched it to gain said ability. With this power, he grabbed the blade on his cap and threw it toward the Ghool and the machine. The ghost exploded upon contact of the blade, while the machine was sliced horizontally and caused jewels to explode out of them. Chopper smiled, caught his cutter blade, and picked up the jewels before proceeding to the other door across from him.

Inside the room was another panel, most likely for another pinball game. A strange, black jewel enemy in the shape of a bomb with one eye was in the same room. The enemy, known as a Jewelsplosion, spotted him and began to charge at him with its lit up fuse.

It only took Chopper a mere kick to send the Jewelsplosion flying onto the panel and into the pinball game. Upon exploding, several jewels came out from the panel, making Chopper grab them.

"Wow! I'm going to get so much of these when I'm through with this place! It'll be…" Chopper paused for a moment before looking at the purple jewel. "Wait… What would I even use this for? And I sound like I want to have more of these. It feels so…wrong of me to say that. …Well, at least I'm not keeping these."

Chopper ran out of the room as fast as he could and returned to the elevator with the jewels. He appeared to have enough to go up to floor six, so he put in all the jewels and waited to go up to the next level.

When the elevator door opened, Chopper was met with a hallway dead ahead rather than one to his left and right. Its appearance looked pretty similar to that of the previous floor. A Jewelite, Darkling and Tartara Grunt were walking around the hallway, and a couple of Poisna statues were in place. The statues were nothing to him, as a simply throw from his cutter blade was enough to destroy it. He ran up to the blade afterward and caught it in midair.

Unfortunately, this action had brought the other three enemies' attention. The Tartara Grunt began to fire shots from his blaster at him, the Jewelite shot a small, purple laser in his direction, and the Darkling was hurling poison spells. All of these were easily dodged when Chopper ran on the wall and jumped off to finish off the Darkling with a kick. While that happened, he threw his cutter blade at the Jewelite to destroy it. After catching his blade, he dodged the Tartara Grunt's shots and swung the blade at him in a swift manner to defeat it.

"Wow… Not too bad." Chopper smiled, putting the blade back on his cap. "You know, this hero stuff isn't as bad as I thought. …But I'm not so sure if I'm ready for something like this."

Wasting no time, he ran toward the door up ahead, but before opening it, Chopper noticed it opened up on its own. Despite confused, he didn't let it bother him and entered the room. Unlike the others, though, this one didn't appear to have any machines. In fact, all there was was a couch to the left, a desk up ahead, and a doorway on the left and right.

"What's this? There are no machines to play games, nor do I see any jewels to help me go up to the next level…"

However, one thing that surprised him was that there were voices coming from the left doorway. Choosing not to catch anyone's attention, Chopper silently approached the doorway and took a peek at what was going on.

Two Tupan guards and two Tartara Soldiers were having a negotiation. One guard had a briefcase opened up, revealing Clarins to be inside.

"So, here's what we've got for you guys," the Tupan guard said. "Is this enough to owe you?"

"Blasphemy!" the first Tartara Soldier snarled, swiping the briefcase off the table, causing some Clarins to be sent flying in the air and slowly float down. The same soldier caught one in its hands and glared at it. "We don't desire Clarins or any sort of money! That's nothing Lord Maquano needs! What good will this be with his plans?"

"But… You do require jewels, yes?" the second Tupan guard asked. "You can trade in these Clarins for jewels. We've got one of those machines on this floor, in fact!"

"Hmmmmm… Is that so?" the second Tartara wondered, letting a Clarin fall in its hand in order to look at it. "Very well… But you better be right about this. We need some of those jewels to make some weapons! That was part of the deal, you know."

"Well, rest assured, because Princess Poisna said that she has many ways of getting jewels. I guess that's a good thing for her to be completely obsessed with them. It can give you bigger ideas of gathering such beautiful pieces of art!"

"Yeah, sure…" the first Tartara replied, not caring about that little speech. However, before it could leave, it began to smell the air. "Wait a second… I sense something nearby. It doesn't feel familiar though…"

Hearing that, Chopper felt a bit uneasy and stepped away from the doorway. Sadly, this did not do much, as it only made the soldier walk out of the doorway and spot him. It easily shot at him with its blaster and knocked away his Cutter ability.

"So, you decided to show up here, huh? You've got some guts reaching this far!" the soldier snorted. "Turn back now, you brat!"

While Chopper was a bit nervous, he quickly put on a brave look and got in a fighting stance. "Not until I get that Power Star Piece!"

"Oh, we'll see about that when you're burnt to ashes!" the Tartara laughed before opening its mouth wide and shooting a fireball toward him. "Dodge this!"

Instead of dodging, Chopper inhaled the attack and gained the Fire ability instead. He ended up shooting a fireball from his mouth at the soldier, who cringed as the projectile ended up striking it, leaving its armor a bit damaged in the process. Unfortunately, that only seemed to anger the Tartara more.

"Grrrrrrgh! Let's try this again!" the soldier opened its mouth again and let enough fireball shoot from his mouth. It was much faster than the other, and Chopper found himself gulping. That is, until he felt something spark in him again.

Using his right hand, he managed to smack the fireball away and let it hit the wall to his right instead, leaving a hole. The Tartara gaped at first, but it decided to shoot a barrage of fireballs toward him, creating a large amount of smoke near Chopper. But, just like the previous one, the other fireballs were smacked away, with one hitting the soldier and knocking it to the wall.

The smoke cleared, and the other Tartara Soldier and the two Tupan guards looked in shock as their comrade was lying against the wall. They looked over at Chopper, who too was shocked by the outcome.

"What… What was that?" Chopper gawked, looking down at his gloved hand. "What happened to those fireballs?"

Seeing this as an opportunity to attack, the other Tartara Soldier fired a shot from its blaster at Chopper, only for him to jump in the air and spit a fireball down at it. To finish it off, Chopper came charging down at it in a fireball, defeating both Tartaras in the process. The two Tupan guards gaped and tried punching him once he landed, but because they touched his flaming head, they suffered some consequences from doing so.

"Oh, geez! You've got some water?!" the first guard exclaimed.

"No! I've got none!"

"Crud! Well… Find a bathroom immediately!"

With that, the two guards ran as fast as possible past Chopper and out of the room. Despite confused, he couldn't help but find himself lucky. But the topic of Clarins caught his attention when he entered the left room. There, on the floor, were some Clarins, along with some remaining in the suitcase.

"Wait… They said something about a machine being here, right? Then… Maybe I can trade these in for jewels!" Chopper smiled, picking up the Clarins and taking them to the right doorway. Indeed he was correct, as he saw a jewel machine in an empty room. He wasted no time and put all the Clarins into the machine, which coughed up dozens of jewels onto the floor. To make sure there was more, Chopper smashed it with a single, flaming kick that made jewels and Clarins fly everywhere in the room. "Oh, boy! There sure are a lot of Clarins here!"

He picked up the jewels and ran out of the room as quick as possibly and back into the elevator. Shoving the jewels into the button labeled "eight", Chopper pressed the button and let it take him up to the eighth floor. Now he was getting closer to the top…

However, just when he thought he'd be safe, something shot directly at him when the elevator door opened. Thankfully, Chopper was fast enough to avoid the attack and clung onto a picture of Poisna hanging on the wall of the hallway. Strangely enough, this floor appeared to have a forest-like atmosphere, with a couple of vines stuck on the walls, along with some bushes and grass on some sections of the floor.

Looking by the elevator, a Tartara Soldier was looking disappointed as it found no sign of Chopper. Seeing this as an opportunity to strike, Chopper came whirling down in a fireball and sent the Tartara flying toward the elevator. The downside to this was that the elevator shook and eventually began to plummet downward, shocking Chopper.

"Oh no! That's not good!" Chopper ran up to the door and pressed the button to go up. Sadly, there was no elevator that came up. "This…isn't good. How am I supposed to reach the upper levels now?!"

Just as he was about to ponder over this, he felt something attacking from behind, so he quickly stepped out of the way to make a Tupan guard fall over on the purple rug. Another one came running at him, but Chopper easily got out of the way and kicked the guard's head from behind to knock him on the floor.

"Yeesh… These guys sure are a pushover when they're so slow…" Chopper remarked, noticing only a single hallway to the right. A couple of Poisna statues were there too, scanning for any intruders. Smiling, Chopper shot some fireballs at them to destroy them and proceeded to the door ahead.

Just as he was about to run into the room, he quickly stopped when he found his foot right by some poisonous water. He stepped back by the door and noticed how large the room was. There were some platforms floating in the water around, but they appeared to be too far for him to jump. On the other hand, the ceiling was much closer to the floor than before, and on it were some thick vines.

A light bulb appeared over Chopper's head as he knew what to do. He leaped in the air and grabbed a hold of the vines. Keeping his grip firm, Chopper began to make his way over to the center of the room. He dropped down and landed on the platform by a yellow ? block. A Darkling popped out and surprised him by hurling a spell that knocked away his Fire ability.

"Hey! You can't do that! That's not fair!" Chopper cried, seeing the yellow star fall into the toxic water and shatter.

"You know, we Darklings can do whatever we want just to stop you," the Darkling hissed. "That includes hiding in blocks. Now take this!"

The Darkling prepared another spell, but Chopper managed to easily take it out with a single jump before it could even attack.

"You know, I always wonder why bad guy always have to continue to talk when they can just attack me… I should've done that right from the beginning!"

He leaped in the air and grabbed the vines again to land on a rug-like platform on the upper right corner. A chest happened to be in there, and in it was a banana and a slice of pizza that was still warm for some apparent reason. Chopper did not object to this. In fact, he was more than happy to eat both delicacies to recover from any injuries left on him.

Seeing nothing left, Chopper left the room and returned to the unconscious Tupan guards. He noticed a hallway up ahead, but there did not appear to be any doors in sight. The only thing he could find was a leaf-like curtain. It seemed awfully suspicious, though, so Chopper pulled it off to reveal a doorway leading to a road made of jewels outside.

"Are these supposed to be like stairs?" Chopper wondered, confusion now on his face. It appeared to be a very long road that seemed to move in a spiral matter. This only excited Chopper more, giving him a chance to run. He blasted off through the road and began to run around the spiral road and through a couple of loops.

In fact, the road leading up to the next floor was upside down, but that didn't stop Chopper from running. He ended up breaking through the window of the fourth floor and landed on the floor, destroying a few Darklings and Jewelites that stood, or rather, floated, in his way.

This hallway was a lot different than the other floor below as well. Rather than being a forest-like area, it appeared much cleaner, with a shiny ground made of jewelry, along with many pictures on the walls made from jewelry. It mostly contained picture of Poisna and her holding many jewels.

"Man, what is with her and jewels?" Chopper wondered, turning away from the picture. However, he stopped and turned back when he noticed something interesting on it. Behind Poisna was a set of clothing. "Strange… What's that doing in that picture? Did someone leave them there because they forgot to take them?"

He slowly walked through the hallway, noticing no sign of any enemies around. What did catch him by surprise were some marks on the floor in front of him. It appeared to be scratch marks.

"Scratch marks? Strange… But what would they be doing here? …Oh, I know! They were playing some kind of game! Whoever could scratch the floor the hardest would win!"

Chopper made his way over to the door ahead and gave it a good kick. The room he stumbled upon had white walls and a light purple carpet on the floor with a depiction of Poisna. It seemed to be awfully empty, with the exception of a projector on a stool and a projector screen.

Out of curiosity, Chopper looked at the projector and noticed a button. By pressing it, the projector turned on and showed something on the projector screen. It appeared to be some sort of anime containing some girls. Chopper was instantly reminded of that one show his dad would watch, which made him a bit uneasy.

"Oh, no… Not these freaky kind of girls!" Chopper gulped. However, the show was interrupted by a Tupan that wore a hoodie and was battered up. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties.

_"If you're watching this, please, PLEASE listen carefully!"_ begged the Tupan, who was slowly panting. _"I've discovered something that I would've never believed… Something about Poisna…"_

While that was going on, he heard the door banging behind him. _"I don't have much time to speak, so I must make this quick. I was traveling here with my friend earlier out of curiosity, but we soon discovered something horrific! We soon found Poisna, and before I knew it, my friend transformed into a jewel! I quickly came here to hide and tell the news to anyone who's here. She's not the sweet, innocent girl everyone has known her as. She's…"_

Before he could go any further, the door was opened, and the last thing Chopper heard from the projection was a scream before the video went off.

"Wait…" Chopper paused for a moment and looked around the room. He approached the projector screen and pulled it back up to reveal a purple jewel. A hoodie was also revealed to be there as well. Picking up the jewel, Chopper inspected it, now horrified after realizing what these jewels were. "All this time these jewels…were just these people transformed into them by Poisna?! So I've been carrying people transformed into them this whole time!?"

He dropped the jewel in horror and stepped away from it. "What about all of those other people down on the first floor? What's going to happen to them? Are they safe from harm?"

Before he could question any further, two Tupan guards broke into the room and spotted him.

"Hey, kid! Don't think you can get out of here so easily!" the first Tupan guard shouted.

"Time to throw ya outta here!" the second exclaimed.

Chopper turned to them with a glare and his hands balled up in fists. Just as they were about to grab him, he jumped and kicked both of their faces to knock them onto the floor. Afterward, Chopper landed on top of the second Tupan guard's back.

"I bet you had something to do with this too," Chopper remarked, looking down at the two guards. "I can't believe you would do something like that for someone! That's terrible!"

"Unnghhh… Trust us… We had nothing to do with people turning into jewels…" the first guard moaned. "We're only here to do out jobs of protecting the place."

"I wanna know how I can reach the top floor. I'm betting she's up there."

"Well, I can't do much to fight back, so I guess we don't have much of a choice…" the second Tupan guard mumbled. "There's a secret little passage in this room that'll help you reach the tenth floor. There's also a big door leading to Poisna's room. No one but her is allowed in there."

"…Thank you," Chopper said, jumping off the guard and landing by the wall. He scanned the walls to see if anything looked a bit different. Strangely, there was one spot that was more grayish than the rest of the wall. Chopper placed his hand on it to reveal a secret door that happened to be a small elevator. "Oh, so this is it!"

He entered the elevator, and before he knew it, it was able to take him to the tenth floor through a secret door in the wall. The tenth floor was very similar to the ninth, with the shiny floor and walls made of jewels, along with a couple of vases that were on some short, white pillars. They were mostly purple with many different colored jewels embedded in them.

However, Chopper's antennas were twitching from the vases, as if there was something not right with them. He knocked one onto the floor to let it break. It ended up transforming back into a Poisna statue.

"Huh… So these vases must be disguises!" Chopper deduced, knocking over a couple of more vases in the hallway. They, too, turned into Poisna statues.

When Chopper reached the center of the hallway, he found a hallway dead ahead leading to a door. To the left of the elevator was another door that contained a pinball machine, but after discovering what the jewels really were, Chopper had no intention of playing anymore games.

He faced the hallway dead ahead and began to run toward it, only to run into a few Jewlies, a Jewelar and a Jewelmer. Chopper clenched his fists and inhaled the Jewelmer to gain the Hammer ability, and then he smashed up the Jewlies and Jewelar that stood in his way.

"That was all that was left? That's pretty disappointing…" Chopper trailed, entering the door into a circular room with glass walls and a hallway up ahead with a large, black door with red eyes and a creepy mouth. "That door… Just like the other doors I've seen leading up to someone…"

Before he could even get to the hallway, something had landed in the center of the room. It appeared to be a large, red jewel enemy that resembled a sumo wrestler. It also had three, orange eyes looking down at him.

"What the… I've never seen something like this before…"

Chopper raised his hammer and charged at the Jewelmo, only to get smacked aside and bump into the glass wall. Thankfully, the walls did not break, but he no longer had his Hammer ability.

When he landed on the red carpet, Chopper wiped his mouth of any drool and got in a fighting stance. The Jewelmo responded by getting in its own fighting stance, which involved it stomping the floor with one foot, causing the room to shake slightly.

The Jewelmo began to charge at Chopper and prepared to grab him. Thankfully, he was much faster than the fat jewel enemy, allowing him to get out of the way and deliver a kick from behind. Sadly, this didn't appear to do much damage, so Chopper stomped on its head, but even that didn't appear to do much.

"Dang it! Nothing seems to be working that well against this thing!" Chopper gaped, dodging a punch the Jewelmo threw to the ground, creating a small hole. When he ran over by the windows, the Jewelmo tried punching him, but he obviously avoided it. What surprised him, however, was the hole created from the punch.

A thought soon struck his mind as he ran to the opposite end of the room and tried getting the Jewelmo's attention. Having very little intelligence, the Jewelmo charged at Chopper at full speed. Right when it was close to him, Chopper sped out of the way, allowing the large enemy to crash through the wall and fall out of the building.

Upon crashing, the Jewelmo shattered.

"Well… I guess the settles one thing." Chopper sighed, turning away from the broken wall. "I wish I could've taken that thing on my own, but I guess I didn't have enough strength to do so. I might as well get to Poisna and settle this, though."

He ran up to the black door that awaited him in the hallway. Beside the door was a chest that contained an apple. Chopper happily ate it to fully restore his health before looking back at the door.

"Poisna… You better be ready for your just desserts!" Chopper declared, grabbing the doorknob and swinging the door open. Before anyone could stop him, he quickly made his way into the room ahead.

* * *

**Some may be wondering why I updated this story again when I should've updated A Thousand Years Ago... I did this first because the next chapter is actually going to be a boss chapter, and since ATYA's next chapter is a boss chapter, I wanted to be writing a boss chapter back-to-back. **

**I guess with Poisna's secret discovered, things might get pretty deadly when she finds out about this... Expect things to go off the roof in the next chapter!**


	24. Poisna: Jewel Obession Up to Eleven

Chapter 24: Poisna: Jewel Obsession Up to Eleven

The first thing Chopper noticed was that the end of the room's wall was made of glass, just like the room previous to him. The floor contained a purple carpet with depictions of jewels, and on the walls were many different types of jewels. There was also a brown desk with a blue and pink jewel. The desk itself had many small jewels plastered on it. Even the dark purple walls and ceiling had jewel depictions on them!

One thing for sure was that this was definitely Poisna's room, and that her love of jewels felt more like an obsession.

Did I mention jewels?

"Gosh… Look at this room… It's big, but there are jewels everywhere!" Chopper gasped, covering his mouth. "This is freaky…"

"Well well well! So you managed to make it all the way up here, did ya?"

Chopper looked over at the desk and noticed a purple chair slowly turn around. Poisna sat with her legs crossed while caressing a gray jewel almost like a baby. The look on her face appeared to be in a mixture of anger and annoyance.

"Y-Yeah, that's right!" Chopper shouted back. "I'm here to take what you don't deserve!"

"You mean the Power Star Piece?" Poisna asked, taking out the glowing piece. "Just so you know, I was rightfully given this by Lord Maquano. You have no right to be stealing from me, you thief!"

"At first, I came here just for that… But then as I got closer to you, I feel like there's more than that…" the pale green boy lowered his guard and looked down at the floor. "I found something I never knew about… Something…disturbing."

"Disturbing? The only thing disturbing me at the moment is your annoying face, so buzz off, kid!"

Though Chopper was going to respond to that, he decided to continue his little speech. "I ended up finding a little video that revealed your true colors. All of those jewels you had around this place… They're just people transformed into them, isn't it?"

Poisna seemed a bit surprised at first, but she gave him a grin and stood up from her chair. "Yeah, that's right! All of the jewels that are in my Casino Club are people transformed into them! …Well, not all of them, but a lot of them sure are! My precious jewel lake is especially filled with them!"

"But why would you do something like that? Do you care about others?" Chopper gaped.

"Well, my parents would always give me so many jewels as gifts when I was much younger! I'd even convince them to go out and get me all the world's jewels! However, once there were no more, I was infuriated. I decided to leave them with all my jewels and tried to go elsewhere. That is, until I met someone who was willing to give me something that can give me as many jewels as I want if I joined him! Wanting more, I agreed and was given a staff with the power to turn anything into jewels! I was also given some stronger poisonous powers as well, since we Tupans are known to carry some form of poison in our systems!"

"That person must've been Maquano…" Chopper muttered.

"Yup! Thanks to him, I can have anything I want now! If only my parents would've approved of my precious staff's powers." Poisna said, turning to the blue and pink jewel on her desk. "But who cares about them now? I can get something I love even more now!"

A gray staff with a purple gem on the top materialized in her hand. "See this? This is what was given to me! The jewel on the top has such immense power, such as turning people into jewels, and destroying you!"

"So, you're just going to turn me into a jewel, is that it?" Chopper asked, getting in a fighting stance. "No way am I going to let you do that!"

"I thought of it… But I thought it'd be more enjoyable to test out its other powers first!" Poisna smirked. "It'll surely make you PAY for breaking into my Casino Club and wrecking havoc, that's for sure!"

The gem on her staff began to glow, and suddenly a small, purple laser shot out of it and fired at Chopper. Thankfully, it hadn't actually shot him, but it barely managed to touch his foot. A black mark was left on the floor, and steam appeared to rise there.

"You see what this staff can do? I'm sure you're ready to cry and leave like the little baby you are when this hits you!" Poisna taunted.

Chopper glared at her and clenched his fists before getting into a fighting position. "No way! I made it this far, and I'm not stopping now! I'm going to get that Power Star Piece, and then I'm going to turn all of those poor people back to normal when I win this fight!"

"Turn them back to normal? HA HA! You're so funny, you brat!" the princess leaped in the air and performed a flip before landing in front of her desk. "All right, I'll have a little fun with you. You ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," Chopper replied, getting prepared for the worst.

Poisna grinned and aimed her staff at the boy. It began to glow and fired a jolt of purple electricity. Chopper didn't even have time to dodge it and was electrocuted and paralyzed, which seemingly slowed him down. Poisna took this opportunity to smack his head with her staff.

"Oh, yeah! There's also a reason why I'm called Poisna too, you know!" the girl smirked, blowing out purple, poisonous air. Though, to her dismay, Chopper had shaken off the paralysis and avoided the toxic scent.

"You must really have bad breath if that's all that comes out…" Chopper trailed.

Poisna, unfortunately, did not take this too lightly and began to fire lasers from her staff. However, Chopper was prepared for it and quickly sped around the room to dodge. He moved so fast that Poisna could not even see her!

"What the… Hey! How fast is he?!" Poisna gaped, only to feel two feet land on her head harshly. "How'd you get there?!"

She was about to swat Chopper off her head, but he jumped in the air and performed a flip before stomping on her head again harder than before. This knocked Poisna onto the ground and left her dazed for a brief moment. However, she was quick to recover and managed to get herself up and smirk at Chopper.

"Not bad, little kid! I think I underestimated you. Of course, I'm really PEEVED that there's more to you than I thought!"

"Well, I managed to beat that leaf guy, the large stone person and that pirate captain," Chopper noted. "You're probably nothing different!"

"Oh, just because I'm younger than them? You're such an idiot if you think that way!" Poisna cackled, twirling her staff and firing sharp jewels toward him. To counter this, Chopper inhaled them all and spat out a large star that came spiraling her way. Poisna's eyes widened in shock before getting hit by the star and knocked toward the left wall.

Poisna slowly stood up and grit her teeth angrily at Chopper. Using one of her rings, she shot a bolt of energy in an attempt to hurt him, but he was able to dodge it with ease. This obviously frustrated her when she tried zapping him from further points, which dealt some serious damage to the room.

"Wait a second… HEY! Stop dodging my attacks!" shrieked Poisna. "You're causing damage to my precious room! It'd be worse if it were my dear gems!"

Chopper remained confident and quickly got out of Poisna's sight. What she wasn't expecting was a green foot hitting her face. Poisna screamed and began to swing her staff at him, even though she wasn't landing a single blow on him. Eventually Chopper jumped back and gave her a determined look.

"Take this!" Poisna shouted, opening her hand and firing a poisonous blast of energy in Chopper's direction. It left him a bit surprised, but he jumped over the attack with ease and let it hit the wall. "UGH! STOP DODGING!"

"You know, looking at you now, you're not as scary as I thought," Chopper remarked. "Especially when I'm kicking your butt already."

Poisna's face began to go red, but she paused for a moment. _"Wait… What am I doing?! Why am I letting myself get so angry over one little kid? I should use my head for once!"_

She eventually calmed down and smirked. "All right, Chopper! I think I know how to twist this little fight of ours!"

Poisna began to blow out a poisonous wind that began to form into a cloud. It began to expand until the poison filled up the room's floor. She grinned as she watched Chopper get ready to suffocate. However, to her surprise, he didn't appear to look in any way ill.

"Wait… Huh? This should poison you!" Poisna shrieked.

"Well, after taking a little something, this poison won't stop me!" Chopper declared, getting ready to attack. "Now let's finish this!"

Just as he was about to leap into the air, Chopper suddenly felt himself get sick. His face had turned much paler than before, and he winced when something stung from inside his body. Poisna raised an eyebrow for a moment, but after discovering what this was, she smirked.

"Oh, really? You certainly don't look like you're healthy at the moment!"

Chopper began to feel weaker than usual and began to cough out some poison. He struggled to jump or even move, allowing Poisna to make her move and fire a bolt of energy from her staff that knocked him into one of the shelves. A parasol slowly fell on Chopper's head and landed in front of him.

"Hey… A parasol…" Chopper wheezed, grabbing the item. Though it was difficult for him to inhale while being poisoned (not to mention he'd only inhale more poison), he stuffed the parasol into his mouth and gained the Parasol ability.

Poisna stared at the red and white-striped parasol and laughed. "That's the best you can come up with?! HA HA HA! This is just hilarious! Are you going to shade yourself from something?"

Using the energy he had, Chopper spun the parasol around and blew away some poison that was near him, clearing the area he stood. However, this did not cure his sickness, but when his hands felt around the shelves, he found a small, blue potion. It was conveniently an antidote, so he drank a small amount, allowing him to exhale a small cloud of poison. His pale green skin reverted back to normal, and he had the energy to move.

Poisna, meanwhile, was left a little shocked. "…Why did I have that antidote there? That makes my poisonous attacks practically pointless! …Or will they?"

She fired a blast of poisonous energy from her hand at Chopper, but it was only blocked by the parasol. "Wait… What?! How is a measly parasol able to block one of my poison attacks?! This is insane!"

Smiling, Chopper approached Poisna while clearing the poison clouds around the room to make it easier to run around. This only angered Poisna even more, making her shoot a bolt of energy at Chopper to stun him. She fired another poisonous blast at Chopper to knock him into the air. Though, to her disappointment, it didn't poison him.

_"I remember those antidotes giving you an immunity to poison temporarily," _Poisna thought while gritting her teeth. _"But if I can still hurt him, I'm fine with using this!"_

She was about to fire another poisonous spell, but her attack stopped when she noticed Chopper slowly descending thanks to his parasol. Poisna smirked, realizing this would make it easier to hit him and hurled another poisonous spell his way. Chopper, fortunately, saw it coming and held his parasol in front of him to stop the attack.

When he had finally landed, he swung his parasol forward and let it open up to hit Poisna. She felt herself fall backwards against the wall, giving Chopper an opportunity to dash toward Poisna and spin his parasol around, causing stars to appear from it. This ended up dealing even more damage to her.

_"How can a parasol do something like this to me?" _Poisna thought, guffawing at Chopper's parasol. Regardless, she remained calm and used her poison magic to create a large, poison cloud that she jumped on. Aiming her staff down at Chopper, she proceeded to fire purple bolts of energy down at him.

However, just like before, they were easily blocked by Chopper's parasol. "You're going to have to try better than that, you know! Your projectiles are useless now!"

Poisna grumbled, but thinking of that sentence again, she grinned and flew down toward Chopper. Raising her staff, she smacked him with it to stun him and then fired a bolt from her staff to damage him. Before Chopper could move, he ended up losing his Parasol ability when Poisna fired a poison spell at him.

Seeing his ability gone, Chopper tried to attack Poisna, but she quickly flew back up in the air thanks to her poison cloud.

"You like my cloud? I like to call it Poisus! It's my dear, poison cloud that I like to use to travel! It also lets me fly over obstacles as well! There's no way you can possibly-"

Her speech was interrupted when she saw Chopper leap into the air in an attempt to stomp on her. She saw this coming and swooped out of the way, making Chopper hit the floor face-first. A feeling of satisfaction had emerged from Poisna's face as a result.

_"Good. This should be much easier."_ Poisna thought with a smirk. She conjured another poison spell in her hand and threw it down at Chopper. To her surprise, however, he managed to inhale it and spit it back at her. She had not fallen off Poisus, which was what worried her the most.

Chopper used this opportunity to run up the glass wall and launch himself straight at Poisna. Just as he was about to hit her, though, he put his feet in front and managed to knock her off her poisonous cloud. She went tumbling into a shelf, causing a couple of jewels to fall off and land beside her.

"No! Not my precious jewels!" Poisna gasped, seeing some of them shatter. "You annoying little…! I'm going to get you for this!"

She grabbed one of the jewels that were in the shape of a cutter blade and threw it at Chopper. But, just like before, he inhaled it and gained the Cutter ability. Realizing that was a big mistake, she aimed her staff and began to fire small, purple lasers that looked similar to the ones from the statues and the Jewelites.

Chopper, however, saw the attack coming and sidestepped to avoid it. Just as Poisna was about to attack again, Chopper threw his cutter blade at her, causing her to let go of her staff. He was about to grab it, but Poisna fired a poisonous spell that knocked Chopper away so she could get her staff.

Poisna grinned and aimed her staff at Chopper. "All right, I think I had enough playing around! It's time to do what I should've done to you a long time ago!"

The staff's gem began to charge up some energy, and soon a pink bolt of energy began to fire from the staff and directly at Chopper. He quickly jumped out of the way and tried to knock her staff away again. Poisna saw it coming and swatted the cutter blade away from her thanks to her staff.

"Oh, and don't think your predictable attack will work on me again, kid!"

Catching his blade, Chopper felt frustrated. However, an idea soon struck his head, so he took action by avoiding Poisna's jewel shards and managed to land right on top of her. She was about to smack Chopper, but he jumped and let her hit herself with her staff.

"Wow! I didn't think you'd be as dumb as your guards!" Chopper laughed.

"You were lucky there!" Poisna growled, rubbing her head in pain before aiming her staff at him. "Now you're toast!"

She aimed another pink bolt at Chopper, but just like usual, it ended up missing. However, it was very close to touching his foot, which caught him by surprise. Poisna proceeded to fire more bolts, with each one hitting near Chopper's foot and causing him to hop around the room as if he were dancing.

"You know… You could probably be my little joker to dance to this! Maybe I'd spare you if you did just that!" Poisna grinned, getting some enjoyment from this.

"Never!" Chopper retorted. "I'm not going to do something like that!"

The last bolt ended up sending him flying back to the wall, leaving him in a dazed state. Poisna put her staff away for now and used both hands to fire a purple energy beam. Chopper was caught in it and left exhausted from the outcome. However, he wasn't out of it just yet.

Grabbing his cutter blade, he prepared to throw it at her once again. Poisna growled at him and took out her staff to prepare to deflect it. Chopper still did not stop and threw the blade.

"That trick again? Are you that dumb?" Poisna scoffed with laughter in her voice. "You sure aren't the best of fighters!"

What she didn't expect was the blade to go over her head and quickly move down so it would be coming back. It ended up hitting her and knocking her over. Chopper quickly ran toward the blade and caught it before jumping and preparing to stomp on Poisna.

However, the poison princess saw it coming and fired another energy beam that sent him flying onto a dresser. One of the drawers opened up, revealing an Ice Flower to be inside.

"What the… What's this doing here?" Chopper wondered, picking up the Ice Flower. He ended up absorbing its ability and gained light blue gloves. "Oh, cool! Cutter and the Ice Flower together! This might come in handy!"

"Wait… THAT'S what those things can do?!" Poisna gaped, seeing Chopper's gloves transform. "I only got that because I was curious about it! I didn't know it could do something like that!"

"Take this, Poisna!" Chopper shouted, hurling an ice ball in her direction. The girl screamed and quickly got Poisus to fly over the attack. He looked up at her and saw a frightened look on her face. "Hey, what's wrong? Afraid of ice?"

"YES! I can't STAND ice!" the princess shrieked. "I don't like any sort of cold whatsoever! It tends to ruin my jewels by making it more difficult to touch, along with making ME cold as well! It's even worse when I have to be around that annoying Icing!"

"Icing?" Chopper gawked. "Like the stuff you put on cakes?"

"Oh, shut up!" Poisna howled, blowing poisonous breath down at Chopper. He easily dodged it and fired an ice ball up at her. She shrieked again and tried to avoid it as usual.

Now Chopper was feeling one major thing in his mind now: confidence.

_"I think I've got her now!"_ Chopper thought, shooting ice balls at her while she continued to dodge them. He had an idea of his own which involved him throwing her cutter blade to keep her distracted, while he would shoot an ice ball at her while she was distracted. This turned out to be successful, and even enough to get Poisna off her cloud while shivering.

"Y-You… I h-hate y-you!" Poisna snarled, her teeth chattering in the process. "I'm g-going t-to…d-destroy y-you!"

Poisna began to fire a barrage of attacks in Chopper's way, such as poison spells and bolts of energy from some of her rings. Chopper swiftly dodged each attack and managed to get a decent punch on her, with a bit of ice added to it, of course. She tried swinging her staff at him, but he easily blocked it with his cutter blade.

"It's over, Poisna! You're going down!" Chopper declared, conjuring up another ice ball. Poisna gaped and kicked him away and started to create poison magic in her hand. Once he fired the ice ball at her, she fired her poison spell back, causing an explosion between the two and forcing them to cover their faces.

When the smoke had cleared, Chopper was the first one to take action and began to fire many ice balls at Poisna, while she fired poison spells back. Neither of them appeared to be getting hurt by the projectiles, as they both collided with each other with an explosion. Chopper took this opportunity to speed out of Poisna's sight when the smoke would clear.

At first, Poisna was furious to see Chopper not standing where he was, but a thought made her believe that she had defeated him. That thought, however, was dead wrong when she felt two cold feet on her head.

"Will you stop that?!" Poisna shouted, shivering from the cold on her head once Chopper jumped off her. While she was off guard, he brought his cutter blade down on her to knock Poisna onto her back. She was thankful to have her staff in front of him to block the cutter blade that was just about to hit her.

_"She's still putting up a fight, but I think I have her now," _Chopper thought, performing a flip in the air upon jumping and giving Poisna an ice kick once she stood up. She let out a sneeze before bumping into her desk.

"Oh, great… This is just wonderful! Now I'm catching a cold!" Poisna grumbled, rubbing her nose. "Another reason why I hate the cold, because I easily catch colds!"

"Then are you ready to give up?" Chopper asked.

"In your dreams!"

Poisna stood up straight and fired a poisonous bolt from her staff toward Chopper, but he easily dodged that and kicked her from the side to knock her back on the ground. At this point, her face was turning red, and a purple aura started to surround her.

Chopper was even about to attack her but paused when he saw the glow. "Hey… What's that?"

"Time to put this Power Star Piece to the test!" declared Poisna, using its power to make poisonous geysers rise from the ground near Chopper. She pointed directly at him, and they began to home in on him.

"Uh oh…" Chopper gulped, fleeing from the poisonous energy and running up the wall to avoid it. To his dismay, though, they followed him up the wall, so he jumped off and ran straight to Poisna. She smirked and let the poison beam go over her like a lump on the ground to chase Chopper.

Thankfully, Chopper could easily outrun the beam, but that was all he could do against it. Poisna smirked as she saw Chopper run back to her.

"Oh, come on! This trick again?" Poisna laughed. "If you believe I'll fall for such a trick, think again!"

Chopper sighed, realizing there was no way he could possibly stop that beam. However, running past the desk, he remembered the two jewels that were on her desk.

Poisna let out another cackle as her beam followed Chopper, but her sadistic look soon changed to one of fear when he saw him grab two jewels and put it in front of him. She screamed for a moment and stopped the beam.

"WH-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Poisna shrieked. "Let go of those jewels! PLEASE!"

"These?" Chopper asked, looking at the jewels before glaring at her. "I don't know… You have that beam thing right at me, and if you're planning on taking me out, then I have no choice but to take these with me."

"N-No… Pl-Please… Those are my parents… Those are one of my most important jewels! You wouldn't understand!"

"Understand? The person who gave you that staff is the reason why my parents and the rest of my kind are gone!" Chopper exclaimed. "At least _you_ have your parents with you – even if they're just objects."

"Look, just please… Let them go safely. Do that…and I'll give you what you want."

Chopper raised one of his eyebrows. "Are you sure…?"

Poisna nodded, despite shaking in fear. "Y-Yes! Just please… I beg of you not to smash them!"

Tears were starting to come down Poisna's eyes at this point. When Chopper saw them, his glare had faded away, and a look of sympathy had appeared on his face. After a moment, he finally asked, "You promise to listen to me?"

"Yes, I promise! Just don't smash my precious jewels!" Poisna begged.

Believing she was being truthful, Chopper slowly put down the two jewels. With them out of his hands, Poisna grinned and let her poison beam strike Chopper and throw him against the glass wall, leaving a large crack in the window. When the beam was gone, Poisna cackled.

"You… You promised you wouldn't do anything like that!" Chopper cried.

"Yeah… I did say that." Poisna recalled. "Doesn't mean it was all true! Did you REALLY believe all of that?! Wow! I can't believe you fell for something like that!" What an idiot!"

Chopper slowly stood up and clenched his fists. "You lied to me! I guess I have no choice…"

"Time to end this!" the princess declared, aiming her staff's gem at him. "You've wasted enough time for me now! I hope you enjoy being a jewel for the rest of your life!"

The gem began to create sparks as it was slowly beginning to charge up its attack. Chopper, meanwhile, had an ice ball ready - two, to be exact. Once he had one ready, he hurled it at Poisna just as a bolt of energy had fired from her staff. Both suddenly collided, creating an explosion between the two. At first Poisna was satisfied, but she gaped when she saw something swiftly run through the smoke.

"Oh, crud…" Poisna gulped, having barely enough time to react.

"It's time for the Final Cutter!" Chopper declared, grabbing the blade on his cap. Unlike before, it was surrounded in an icy glow that had Poisna written right on it. Chopper swung his blade at her twice before leaping into the air and bringing his attack down in a huge slash, creating an energy wave that was coming straight for Poisna.

The wave had made contact with her, causing an explosion to drive her back.

Poisna had opened her eyes after a bit and noticed she was on her knees at the moment. She tried to stand up, but no matter how hard she tried, she was unable to do so. Instead, Poisna decided to look around the room, only to discover her staff was right in front of her on the ground. Attempting to grab it, she soon noticed she couldn't move her hands.

"Argh! Why can't I move my hands and legs?!" Poisna exclaimed, trying as hard as she could to do so. Upon getting a clear vision of herself, she soon noticed the answer.

Her legs and hands were frozen and stuck to the floor.

"What the… Oh, no!"

Beside the staff was the Power Star Piece, and approaching both items was Chopper.

"Are you… Are you planning on finishing me?" Poisna asked with worry as she looked up at Chopper. The first thing he did was pick up the staff, making her gulp. "No… Don't do this to me! Don't turn me into a jewel!"

However, rather than zapping her, he snapped the weapon in half, causing the gem to shatter as well. Chopper dropped it afterward and looked down at her with a glare.

"…My staff! No!" she cried. "You just destroyed the only thing that was capable of turning anything into jewels!"

"That's what I was trying to get in the first place," Chopper stated. "I didn't like you turning people into gems, and I wanted to put an end to it. Now there's just you…"

Poisna gulped, realizing he was most likely going to finish her now. However, Chopper looked down at the ice frozen on her and decided to turn away. "What? You're going to leave me like this?!"

"Well… I honestly don't want to destroy you." Chopper said as he turned back to her. "I don't think I have it in me to do something like that. It's just…wrong. Besides, I know you probably won't be much of a big threat without that staff and the Power Star Piece."

"So… You're just going to let me go so easily?" Poisna gawked. Soon, her confused expression turned to laughter. "Wow! Though I should be thankful for this, I think this just proves that you're way too soft! By the way… Just because you destroyed my staff doesn't mean the people who were turned into jewels will be coming back. If that was your plan, then you obviously failed!"

The look on Chopper's face certainly didn't look too happy upon hearing the news, but he tried his best not to get too upset.

"Well, even if I didn't get that, I do know that I'm a lot stronger than you if you decide to pick another fight with me. Anyway…" Chopper turned his attention back to the Power Star Piece on the ground. He picked it up and took out the other three pieces that were combined. Poisna's piece responded to the other three and slowly began to form with the others.

"All right… Four down, four more to go." Chopper said, looking at the half complete Power Star. "It certainly looks much better than before…"

Unfortunately, he was completely unaware of Poisna, who was now smirked as she tried to concentrate her poison powers to create a large, poison hand. In a matter of seconds, Chopper felt something grab a hold of him.

"Ack! What the heck?!" Chopper gaped, struggling to break free from the poison hand. "Hey! Poisna! What are you doing?!"

"Hey, just because my hands are frozen doesn't mean I can't use magic!" Poisna cackled. "However, I sure have a present for you, Chopper! Would you like to know what it is?"

"Urgh… Let…go of me!"

Poisna's eyes soon flashed purple, and the poisonous hand threw Chopper with all its might. The force managed to make Chopper break through the glass wall and fly out of the continent to one ahead, which appeared to look more on the white side.

"Enjoy that Power Star Piece, kid! You won't be going anywhere when you'll be a frozen popsicle on the next continent!" Poisna yelled. "You'll be totally helpless!"

She began to let out a cackle until she was too exhausted to do so, and soon she was unconscious with the little energy left in her.

* * *

**And that is the end of the poison forest area, folks!**

**When I first had thought up the area, I was actually dreading it at first. However, when I had gotten to work on this section, I actually liked doing this place. I think one of my favorite parts had to be the battle between Chopper and Metal Chopper for being filled with action and for also being a bit of an equal match. This boss fight was also a bit enjoyable too, though maybe I could have ended this chapter a little better.**

**I would also consider this world to be the start of Chopper slowly doing some things for heroic reasons, as what we saw here a bit.**

**I also had originally intended for Chopper to completely freeze Poisna in an ice cube, but I didn't think that would have really worked too well for him, so I had her get stuck on the floor so she was at least "alive".**


	25. Taking Action

Chapter 25: Taking Action

"You called me this whole time just for an issue like THIS?!" Maquano roared, successfully opening the pickle jar and giving it to Camikon. He decided to sit back down on his throne and look away from the old wizard.

"Well, sire... It's just that... I do not have the strength to open these jars." Camikon explained. "I'm too old for this kind of stuff!"

Maquano looked back at his sidekick with a glare. "Then why didn't you go ask one of my soldiers to do the job for you?"

"The other soldiers would just break the jar with their claws! Only you would be able to do something like this with ease!"

"Camikon, I was THIS close to eliminating that boy!" Maquano explained, showing his thumb and pointer finger close to each other at Camikon. "You told me there was an emergency, but all this time you wanted me to open your pickle jar. If you ask me, you're pathetic."

Camikon grumbled at him as he began to grab a pickle. However, Maquano was not done there. He pointed his finger at the jar and made it shatter, destroying the pickles in the process.

"Lord Maquano! My pickles!" Camikon gaped.

"That's what happens when you interrupt my job," Maquano stated, turning away from Camikon and making a dark orb materialize in his hand. "Now, let's see what that brat is up to..."

Through the crystal ball, he discovered Chopper flying through the air and approaching another continent. "So, looks like he's going to the next continent... Well, looks like Poisna failed to beat him after all! ...Wait, what?"

"Oh, yes... I forgot to inform you of the princess's defeat..." Camikon sweat dropped. "It seems Chopper must have froze her to the ground and left her. ...Or did she throw him out?"

"And you didn't tell me this, why?" Maquano wondered, glaring at Camikon once again.

"Well... I suppose my old brain forgot."

"Typical... Well, seeing that kid defeat Poisna is a bit of a shocker. She was, after all, pretty powerful compared to the others..." the demon knight stood up from his throne. "I guess there's one thing left for me to do."

"And what is that, Lord Maquano?" Camikon wondered.

"Better go destroy that brat so it'll be much easier to destroy this planet. And hopefully this time, there will be no distractions."

Just as he was about to go, however, two figures had made their appearance in the room near his throne. He happened to hear them and turn around to see Nazado and Shanine standing by Camikon.

"Oh. It's you." Maquano said bluntly.

"We heard you wanted to go after that kid, right?" Nazado recalled. "Well, you probably have other things to do. Why don't you let us handle it?"

"No, I'm not busy at all. I'd rather do the job myself, because I'd be more successful."

"Well... You're the big bad! You're supposed to send out minions to do the job for you! Why don't you relax for a change?"

"We must let ourselves shine in the light," Shanine added.

"Last time you tried to fight that boy, you weren't very successful. Neither was your little dog friend." Maquano informed. Just as Nazado was about to answer, another figure entered the room.

"Ah! Metal Chopper returns!" Camikon said with glee, only to look disappointed at Metal Chopper's damaged body. "Though, I suspect he, too, had lost to him..."

"CRITICAL DAMAGE RECEIVED," Metal Chopper stated. "REPAIRS AND IMPROVEMENTS ARE REQUESTED."

"What exactly do you want improved?" Maquano asked.

"I HAVE ENCOUNTERED PROBLEMS WITH HEAT. IT APPEARS I CANNOT SUSTAIN FIRE, OR ELSE MY BODY BECOMES OVERHEATED. PERHAPS MY DESIGN IS FLAWED."

"See, Lord Maquano? I told you there would be some issues..." Camikon trailed.

"Yes, perhaps I was wrong about that," Maquano pondered. "Well, we'll have the engineers fix you up. Disposing you would be pointless, as there is a chance to identify what types of powers Chopper has."

"Uh, ahem? What about us?" Nazado interrupted, trying to get Maquano's attention. "Why pay attention to that piece of scrap metal when you have the Master of Disguise here, along with his trusty shadow canine, Shanine?"

"I HAVE EVERYTHING CHOPPER POSSESSES, AND EVEN MORE," Metal Chopper replied. "THE TITLE 'MASTER OF DISGUISE' DOES NOT INTIMIDATE ME."

"Well the name 'Metal Chopper' is not that original either."

"DO YOU WISH TO BE ANNIHILATED?"

"Bring it on!"

Maquano was starting to get a bit annoyed at their arguing and fired two balls of dark magic toward both Nazado and Metal Chopper. While it didn't hit them, it was enough to make them step back. Both of them appeared shocked at their leader.

"Consider that to be luck," Maquano hissed. "If you keep arguing like this, I'll eliminate both of you, understand?!"

Nazado and Metal Chopper slowly nodded, the latter having more of an issue due to being damaged.

"Now, Camikon, take Metal Chopper so he can be repaired, and Nazado... Get out of my sight."

"Wait, what!?" Nazado gaped. "But what about Chopper? Send me out to do the job!"

"I was thinking for a moment, and now that I think about it, I don't feel like going back to go after Chopper. I'll do that some other time. I think I'll send someone else to go after him."

"You serious? Who in the world would you send out?"

Maquano snapped his finger, and soon another figure had burst through the door. "What is it you need, Lord Maquano?"

"Brute, you remember our little friend Chopper, correct?" Maquano asked, slowly turning to the Tartara Brute.

"You mean the one I found in those mines?" the Tartara Brute wondered. "So, you want me to go after him, right?"

"Exactly. He should be going to the next continent. It's the cold one, for your information... Go find him and eliminate him. Failure to do so will... Actually, hold on." Maquano snapped his finger again, and a Tartara Grunt walked into the throne room to approach its leader.

"What is your desire, Lord Maqua-" the grunt had barely enough time to speak, as it was instantly disintegrated by Maquano's dark magic. Nazado, Shanine and the Tartara Grunt found themselves gaping.

"See that, Brute? That's you if you don't come back with an eliminated antenna freak." Maquano stated, making the brute, Nazado and Shanine shrink in their place.

"O-OK... I'll do as you say!" the Tartara Brute agreed. "At the snowy continent, correct?"

"Yes. Go there immediately."

The brute finally nodded and scurried out of the room before Maquano could do any harm to him. At the same time, however, it couldn't help but grin, realizing that it would finally have a chance at defeating the boy.

_"Well, let's see how tough this boy is! He won't stand a chance against me!"_

"Good. Now that that's settled..." Maquano slowly turned to Nazado and Shanine. "You two get out of here. Now."

"Of course," Nazado nodded, not wanting to get on Maquano's bad side. "Let's go, Shanine."

"As you wish, master," Shanine complied, following his master out of the room.

Maquano crossed his arms and looked over at Camikon. "You're still here? I thought I told you to take Metal Chopper to the engineers?"

"Yes, of course, Lord Maquano," Camikon nodded. "But I must wonder... Are you starting to feel a little bit worried now after Poisna had lost to Chopper? Not to mention she just sent him to where the next Power Star Piece is!"

"I'm hardly worried," Maquano assured with a smirk. "He hardly stood a chance against me when he tried to face me, and Poisna is not even CLOSE to being stronger than me! So... Yeah, I'm hardly worried. ...Though, the fact that she basically LED him to the next Power Star Piece is what angers me. That Power Star is the only thing that can stop this planet from being destroyed!"

"Hmmmmm... Well, Poisna isn't the smartest bulb on the planet. She cares more about her jewels than that Power Star Piece! However, it was probably your fault for making her obsessed, sonny! If you hadn't given her that staff, then she wouldn't be turning people into jewels! She even turned her PARENTS into jewels!"

"Yeeeeeeeah... I don't care. She's already beaten, so there's no use in trying to use her again. My last three elite minions should keep their Power Star Pieces nice and safe."

"So he's going to be going up against Icing, right?"

"Yes..." Maquano groaned. As much as he needed someone like Icing, he couldn't help but find him the most annoying of his minions. It wasn't because of his obnoxious voice or the fact that he wouldn't shut up most of the time, but mostly because...

_**RING RING!**_

"I AM PICKING UP COMMUNICATIONS," Metal Chopper sensed.

Maquano took out his communicator to see who it was. "Speak of the devil..."

"Ah... So he's calling you right now." Camikon grinned.

"Camikon, go take Metal Chopper to the engineers now. But, wish me luck on this, for I know what I am to expect..."

Camikon agreed and quickly got out of the room with Metal Chopper, knowing what he was expecting from the call as well. With him gone, Maquano answered his communicator and saw the image of a strange being made of ice that wore a blue and white robe, an icy crystal crown with red rubies embedded on them and had yellow eyes on his face. He didn't appear to have a nose or even a mouth. An icy wind appeared to surround him, though.

"Icing..."

_"Lord Maquano..."_

"What do you want?"

_"Well..."_ Icing began, his serious look soon changing to a happy one. _"I just wanted to tell you about my __nice__ carnival I've put up near my __cool__ fortress! I'll admit it feels pretty __ice-solated__ from the rest of the continent!"_

Maquano let out a groan and face palmed. "Ugh... My brain... This is the last thing I want to hear from you?"

_"Well, that was __cold__."_

"Please... Enough with that. THEY'RE. NOT. FUNNY."

_"Says you. They sound pretty __cool__ to me."_

"Ugh... Look, Icing, I don't care about your little carnival. Nobody's going to show up for it when it's in a cold area. Not even I care about that place."

_"Who said I was making it for others to come in? There's a reason why it's so ice-"_

"Get to the point already," Maquano growled.

_"Well, you told me about that Chopper kid, so I decided to put a carnival in the way of the fortress, 'cause, y'know, kids love carnivals, right?" _Icing asked.

"Hmmmmm... Well, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Though, I don't see it succeeding."

_"But it's certainly a place for him to __cool__ down for a moment after traveling!"_

Maquano was about to groan again, but he was practically used to this and ignored it. "You do realize that this boy is coming your way, correct?"

_"Wait... He is already?" _Icing gawked.

"Yeah. Poisna was foolish enough to send him your way. You better be ready to stop him if he shows up. You and the other two are the only ones I have left to stop him, and you're all no pushovers. Be on the lookout."

_"That, I can do, Lord Maquano!" _the ice king assured. _"I'll become the ice age and destroy him like he is a dinosaur! Let me assure you that there will be a lot of ice kicking going on here."_

"Good. Maquano out." Maquano said, shutting off his communicator and letting out a huge sigh of relief before sitting back down. "FINALLY... I didn't know how long I could take that! I almost regret making him join me! ...Then again, he is golden compared to another annoying idiot I had to deal with before..."

* * *

**Outside of Maquano's Castle-**

"I can't believe he just kicked us out like that! Of all the lousy, good-for-nothing..." Nazado rambled as he walked across the rocky field away from the castle. The sky was filled with a swirling darkness, and there were some pools of lava down some hills. He and Shanine were taking their leave on foot.

"I understand your pain, but Lord Maquano does know what he is doing," Shanine stated, only for Nazado to turn to him with a glare.

"You said you could handle that kid on your own in that forest. Yet... You fail to beat him. What makes you think that Maquano knows better? I mean, I'm one of the stronger minions! I should've been one of the people to hold a Power Star Piece! I'm MUCH better than Trinado, Stoneard, Steelfoot, Poisna, and Icing!"

"Master, it is not wise to be jealous. By doing so, it can lead to unnecessary drama and cause a ruckus to Lord Maquano."

"Well, whatever," Nazado pouted, aiming his wand at the lava to make some shoot upward. "If we can't take that kid on, maybe we can have a little fun with him! Remember back at Aqua Island?"

"Do you suggest something like that?"

"Maybe... I'm hoping you didn't tell Chopper that we were in disguise..."

"Negative."

"Good. However, I was thinking that maybe we should try ticking him off this time! Seeing someone rage can actually be pretty funny! Especially with their video games!"

"But won't rage make things worse?" Shanine asked.

"Naaaaah... We'll be fine!" Nazado assured. "Come on! Let's go find him and see him have a temper tantrum!"

Turning into a bat, Nazado began to fly off. Shanine did the same and was soon following his master into the sky.

* * *

**If you like bad puns, you're probably going to love Icing. If you don't, then you're probably not going to like him. Even his name is a pun! :P**

**Expect the next chapter to be a little cool, if you know what I mean. *shot***


	26. The Cold, Delicious Wonderland

**IMPORTANT: As of this chapter, I had revamped a few of the previous chapters, especially Chapters 1-12. I had done this because with the next chapters onward, it felt a bit inconsistent with those chapters, especially with Chopper's personality. So, I had decided to fix them so it was much more consistent. Some characters and enemies have changed names too. If you don't see it in those chapters, perhaps you'll see it here.**

* * *

Chapter 26: The Cold, Delicious Wonderland

The first thing Chopper noticed while flying was that the climate was drastically changing from the dark green, poisonous forest to a cold, snowy white. The next continent was not too far, and already he was flying over it. ...Well, that is until he was plummeting.

Chopper let out a cry as he found himself falling toward a small area with a couple of igloos around. His crying, however, was stopped when his head was caught in the snow.

A couple of people made of ice cubes walked out of their igloos and had yellow eyes, blue, fluffy coats and white gloves and boots. The people known as Eskinians had looked down at the boy and poked at one of his green feet. A small Eskinian had poked him with a small stick.

Chopper had managed to push himself out, causing the Eskinians surrounding him to back off. After shaking snow off his yellow cap, he looked around and was surprised.

"Hey... What is this place?" Chopper asked. "And who are you people?"

His eyes soon caught an Eskinian child with a cooked sausage on his stick. Chopper found himself drooling for a moment.

"Food..."

The Eskinians looked at him in confusion, while a fat one inspected him. He took out a cooked sausage and handed it to Chopper. Many of them were surprised to see him eat it in a split second.

"Thanks!" Chopper smiled, only to notice the Eskinians were silent. "Do you guys talk or something?"

All he received were small mumbles.

"Oh... OK... Well, do you have any idea of where I can find something similar to this?" Chopper pulled out the halfway completed Power Star. Many Eskinians gazed at it in awe, with one attempting to swipe it from Chopper's hands. "No no! This isn't yours! I need it to beat some bad monster!"

Eventually the Eskinians had stopped gazing at it and looked back at Chopper, who asked, "So... Is there anything...weird around here?"

A small, female Eskinian gave him a nod and pointed off ahead. Chopper noticed a couple of giant apples, oranges and candy canes sticking out or hidden in the snow. The response was most obvious.

"Is that..._food?!_"

Not paying attention to the Eskinians anymore, Chopper blasted off toward the direction the small Eskinian pointed to. Many of them were in shock of the boy's tremendous speed. It was something not even they had seen in their life...

Chopper had reached one of the large apples and stared at it in excitement. "Oh, boy! Oh, boy! If there's more of this, then this area is my favorite so far!"

He opened his mouth to inhale it, but he soon realized with the Cutter ability still on, his inhaling would not work. Not to mention the apple was a bit too big for someone like him to inhale. Chopper took off the blade on his cap and began to slice at the apple until the slices were the right size for him to eat. Afterward, he started shoving the pieces in his mouth.

Unfortunately, his eating was interrupted when he found himself shivering.

"It's so c-cold here..." Chopper stammered. "H-How am I s-supposed to e-eat when I'm sh-shivering?!"

His shivering was interrupted by a snowball that hit him in the side of the face. Turning to his left, he caught a glimpse of a Chilly laughing at him.

"Oh, hey! You look just like Chillio! I'm Cho-"

Chopper found himself cut off when the Chilly slid up to him and created an icy aura that froze him for a brief moment. When the ice shattered around him, he shook himself and noticed he had lost his Ice Flower and Cutter ability. "Hey! What's your problem!?"

The Chilly just laughed at him and was about to create another ice aura, but Chopper had inhaled it just in time. Upon swallowing it, he had gained a golden crown with ice crystals appearing on his head rather than his antennas. His crown had a circlet with a blue gem in its center. Not only that, but his skin was tinted light-blue, and his gloves and feet were a bluish indigo.

When Chopper had exhaled, he noticed a small amount of ice breath come from his mouth.

"Huh?" Chopper looked at himself and then felt ice crystals on his head. "...What the heck just happened to me? There's ice on my head! And there's... Wait, I don't feel as cold as before!"

Indeed he did not. His shivering had stopped, and the air around him did not feel cold, but it didn't exactly feel warm either. However, whatever temperature it was, he seemed to enjoy it, so he decided to run past the apple and candy cane. Unfortunately, he found himself slipping and falling over.

"Ow! What the heck was that?!"

He stood up and tried walking again. Unlike before, his feet felt a bit slippery than usual. Walking was a bit more difficult than usual, but he noticed that sliding his feet around made him move much quicker. This eventually led to him ice skating across the snow, leaving a small trail of snowflakes behind.

"Wow! So I can move like this easily with this kind of ability? Cool!" Chopper smiled, spinning around as he continued to skate around. He had gotten a glimpse of two Darklings near some pine trees covered in mostly snow, but containing decorations such as lights, ornaments and even a bright star.

Upon getting a closer look, the Darklings had white, glowing eyes and a white bulb. Chopper obviously knew these Darklings probably used ice magic.

His prediction was correct when they spotted him and hurled magic at him. It appeared very cold, but it was something Chopper could easily dodge. When he landed in front of the Darklings, he accidentally sneezed, making him let out some ice breath that froze one of the Darklings.

"Huh? What that that?" Chopper gawked, noticing the frozen Darkling. "Wait... Did I do that?"

The other Darkling looked at its comrade in surprise, but quickly turned its attention to Chopper. This time, Chopper decided to blow, and out came some ice cold breath. The Darkling was caught in it and was frozen solid.

"Yeah… I guess it was me. I guess I can turn people frozen?" Chopper poked at one of the frozen Darklings with his foot, which ended up sliding it toward to the other. Both clash and exploded upon impact. Chopper found it interesting and decided to ice skate onward past a couple of more trees. While he did that, he began to wonder what kind of other abilities he possessed.

Past a couple of trees were some snowmen, along with some medium-sized ice cubes with yellow eyes. Beside it was a penguin-like creature with a sharp beak, thick, blue feathers and a white belly. It also had a thick, white beard, strangely. The ice cube was revealed to be an Ice Block, while the penguin creature was called a Pengulder.

Unfortunately, Chopper's assumptions of them being friendly were thrown out the window when the Ice Block began to spin in his direction. The Pengulder slid on the snowy ground in an attempt to run Chopper over. Thankfully, he jumped over it in time, but it only got up and opened its mouth, breathing out a large amount of icy breath.

Chopper saw the Ice Block nearby and decided to kick it straight into the Pengulder, which stopped its ice breath. To finish them off, Chopper froze them both with his ice breath and kicked them into a tree, causing them to explode.

"Weird... Even these guys can be frozen..." Chopper muttered.

He passed by the snowmen and decided to ice skate over a few small hills. Sadly, they did not do much to help improve his speed in the slight, and it only made things worse when there was a bat-like creature made of ice with horns, angry eyes and bat-like wings. It appeared to be dropping ice bombs down below. It was discovered to be an Ice Drop, and they were dropping ice projectiles onto the snow, creating small, cold explosions.

Chopper tried breathing ice on them, but his ice breath was not far enough to reach the icy bats. He decided to jump instead and use his ice breath, but instead he found himself spinning while breathing ice. The Ice Drop was frozen in midair, allowing him to kick it straight into another Ice Drop.

"I like this ability a lot!" Chopper cheered, letting out a small amount of ice breath. "My breath is all cold and stuff!"

As Chopper ice skated past a couple of Pengulders, he caught a glimpse of a small mountain ahead. Up on the top of the mountain appeared to be a Tartara Starship. It was obvious from the red and black design of it that resembled fire.

But that mountain… It resembled a scoop of ice cream, and that was always a nice welcome!

Smiling, Chopper ice skated toward the mountain, using his ice breath on any incoming enemies that were ready to attack him.

Perhaps with ice, those Tartara will be experiencing a real cold!

It didn't take long for Chopper to reach the mountain. It appeared to be dark blue with a smooth texture. He easily scaled up to the top, and upon reaching its peak, he found two Tartaras bigger than a grunt, but smaller than a normal soldier. They wore helmets with a green, translucent visor, and they wore medium black and red armor. They also held large bombs with a symbol of Maquano plastered on it.

"Well if it isn't the one I've been looking for!" the Tartara Brute exclaimed, jumping out of a starship and landing on the peak, causing the ground to slightly shake. "You remember me, don'tcha?"

"Hey! You're that mean monster who took Zero, didn't you?!" Chopper realized, getting in his fighting stance.

"Yup! That's me all right! Don't you miss me already?"

"No! I was hoping to forget you..."

"Well, surely you won't forget this!"

With a snap of its finger, the two Tartara Bombers threw their bombs at Chopper. He jumped back from the explosion and noticed some snow around him melt.

"You missed!" Chopper hollered out, only for the Tartara Bombers to have another bomb materialize in their hands. These bombs now had a symbol of a skull.

"The symbol on this bomb is what you're gonna be soon!" a Bomber shouted, throwing the bomb at him. Rather than dodge, he used his ice breath to freeze it and kick it back at the enemy, destroying it. The other Tartara Bomber gawked before it got frozen by Chopper's ice breath.

The Tartara Brute gaped, but it stopped for a moment when it remembered its job. "Oh, yes… Those are just two soldiers. I am supposed to be the one to take care of you, if I recall. So…"

It whipped out a hammer with spikes and struck the mountain's peak. At first, nothing happened, but then a large crack had emerged and split the mountain in two. Chopper found himself caught on the crack and was now flailing around in midair.

"Eep!" Chopper yelped, seeing the Tartara Brute's hammer coming down near him. A big grin was plastered on its face, knowing it'll be satisfied.

Almost comically, Chopper managed to step aside, causing the Brute to plummet down the large crack.

"_**CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUD!**_"

Its voice got less loud as the brute managed to fall onto the snow below. Chopper, luckily, managed to grab a hold of one of the mountain's ledges and began to slide down. He was lucky that his Ice ability made it much easier.

When he had managed to land on the snow, he chose not to waste time and pressed onward. The Tartara Brute was bound to come back anyway.

When he was far enough, he could hear a slight crack from the mountain behind him. Turning, Chopper noticed the half of the mountain turn into smithereens with one hammer strike. The Tartara Brute stood with angry eyes.

"Get back here, you!" it exclaimed, dashing after him.

Chopper's eyes widened as he started to skate away from the burly monster. Obviously he was much faster than it, but its large size did help it reach greater distances too, despite not being too fast. Its hammer started to fire purple plasma shots, which Chopper constantly avoided upon seeing them.

One had barely touched one of the ice crystals on his head when he ducked. The Tartara Brute groaned in frustration and swung his hammer down, creating a wave of energy to fire his way. This sent Chopper flying in the air and onto the snow headfirst. With that, the brute managed to easily catch up to him.

It jumped in the air and prepared to crush Chopper with his weight. He got out of the way due to being faster and watched the Tartara Brute get its bottom stuck in the snow.

"Guh... Great... Just what I needed." the Tartara Brute groaned, trying to pull himself out of the snow. Chopper decided it was best to keep going, so he did just that, making the brute exclaim, "Hey! Where ya going?! The fight's right over here! You... Hey, quit ignoring me!"

Chopper took notice of an ice ring coming up ahead past a few snowmen. A Pengulder tried to freeze him, but ended up missing. It ended up being trampled by the brute when it came stomping Chopper's way.

"If this thing's fat, then it might fall through this ice," Chopper thought, skating onto the ice ring. A couple of Pengulders wearing ice skates were on the ice as well, but they ended up slipping as Chopper skated past them.

The Tartara Brute eventually reached the ice and raised his hammer when Chopper stopped. "All right, kid! It's clobberin' time!"

Chopper put his arms over his face to put up a "decent" defense. Just as the brute was about to bring his hammer down on him, the ice around started to crack.

"What the..." the brute looked down at the ice and noticed even more cracks. "Ack! I'm standing on thin ice!"

"I guess your too heavy," Chopper said, standing on the snow rather than the ice.

"If you're calling me fat, then you're-"

At that point, the ice shattered, causing the Tartara Brute to sink and fall into the water. When its face showed itself on the surface, the Brute appeared to be frozen.

When Chopper approached the Brute, he poked at the ice surrounding it with his finger. No response.

"This monster is just like those other baddies..." Chopper remarked, staring at the gaping Tartara. Since it couldn't do much, Chopper decided to make faces at it, such as sticking his tongue out. Eventually he got bored of it and got back on the snow. "I guess I better get moving!"

He took off, not paying too much attention to the Tartara Brute that was slowly moving inside its icy prison.

"Well hopefully things go all right from here," Chopper hoped, skating past a Pengulder that tried to freeze him. He let out his ice breath on a Darkling and kicked it into another Chilly blocking his way.

It wasn't until he came across a large hill where things started to get interested. Reaching the top, Chopper could get a better glimpse of the dark blue sky. He could also see an aurora up in the sky as well.

"What is that pretty thing up in the sky?" Chopper wondered, looking up at the multi-colored light. "How come this thing wasn't in the other places I explored?"

His pondering came to a halt when he noticed down at the large field before him were many different sorts of apples moving in a circle, along with some jumping pineapples. All of these appeared to have eyes and mouths, strangely.

Regardless, seeing this fruit made Chopper drool. "Food… Giant food…"

He started to skate down the hill, but he accidentally tripped and began to tumble. This led to him being caught in a snowball. However, even when crashing into the pineapple, it didn't seem to budge.

In fact, the giant pineapples didn't seem to pay too much attention to him either, even when he managed to stand in front of it.

"Ummmmm… Hey there." Chopper greeted, trying to get its attention. Still no response. "Hello? Are you there? Can't you see me?"

Nothing.

"Stop ignoring me! I'm right here! Say something!"

Does the narrator need to repeat himself again?

"And now there's this weird voice around, too!"

Oops…

Eventually he gave up with trying to get the giant pineapple's attention and decided to go over to the large apples. They were rolling around, and perhaps they would take notice of the boy.

"Hello? Can you see me? I'm trying to-"

Sadly, Chopper was cut off when the apples rolled over him and knocked his ability away. He was left flat like a pancake on the snow before he quickly stood up and managed to unflatten himself.

"They didn't listen either!" Chopper guffawed, stepping out of the way to prevent himself from being rolled over. However, with the lack of his ability, he started to shiver. "Eep! It's really cold!"

He decided to get away from the fruits and move on ahead, but was forced to a halt when he found a, icy river before him. It was pretty wide, and making a jump would be too difficult.

An Ice Block popped out of the river and tried to crash into him, but Chopper saw it coming and moved aside. He thought about inhaling it, so he decided to eat it, but he gained no Ice ability.

"Nothing? I can't get that ability from before against these monsters? That stinks!"

He was about to turn back and find another way, but he noticed nearby was something red and bouncy. Almost like jello...

Actually, it looked _exactly_ like jello.

Just like the pineapples and apples, this jello appeared to have eyes, but it too did not seem to pay attention to the shivering antenna boy when he ran over to it. It was in the middle of the river – just far enough for Chopper to jump.

Taking the risk, Chopper leaped onto the jello, but rather than land safely, he found himself bouncing upward. Coincidentally, he was thrown to the other side of the river, landing on the snow face-first. He managed to push himself up and looked ahead to see a trail around many trees and a lit up sign.

"What's this?" Chopper approached the sign and read it curiously.

_To Sugar Village_

"Sugar Village? I wonder what that is..."

Upon stepping on the trail, he suddenly found himself slipping and sliding along the way. Eventually this had led him to a much large ice ring that was near the trail. Many Pengulders and Chillies appeared to be ice skating, and Chopper couldn't help but watch them.

He decided to step into the ice ring out of curiosity, but he found himself slipping around the ice. This even caused him to bump into a few of the enemies along the way. However, they didn't seem to pay any attention to Chopper and continued their skating.

But there was a reason to still look around here. Who could ever ignore a giant funnel cake on the other side of the ice ring. Not Chopper.

However, when he ran up to it, he ended up bouncing off it and falling on the ice. He spotted a hole made in the funnel cake, and inside was a pedestal with a Beam ability. It was revealed to be a Copy Essence, and when he touched it, he had gained the Beam ability.

"Huh? I have this ability now?" Chopper gawked, noticing the wand in his hand, along with the hat. "I guess those things instantly give me an ability... I like that!"

After leaving the ice ring (while having trouble at it), he eventually returned to the main trail to Sugar Town.

He had eventually came across a hill going downward ahead on the trail. It appeared to go into a loop and an upward slope leading to an candy cane grind rail in the air. Chopper smiled, seeing this as a perfect opportunity to go fast, and he sped down the hill and through the loop. Once he was up the upward slope, he found himself in the air near the grind rail.

Grinding on the rail was nothing special. Though it made Chopper want to eat it, that's for sure... He leaped off the rail and landed on a chocolate slide leading back onto the snow, which Chopper had enjoyed very much. He even got a chance to take a chunk off and eat it before progressing.

"This is my favorite place so far!" Chopper cheered, only to become frozen solid temporarily by a Darkling's spell.

While the Darkling laughed at this, Chopper started to shake and eventually break free, allowing him to fire a beam whip from his wand at the Darkling, destroying it.

"That thing was such a jerk!" Chopper frowned, deciding to progress on ahead. He hadn't found much of interest as he continued running. He did come across a few Pengulders near some ice fishing, but he ignored them and dodged a few Ice Drops shooting down some icy projectiles as well.

It wasn't until he noticed the trail go up on a hill. There appeared to be some cookie platforms floating above the snow, and at the top of each section of the hill were some Pengulders creating snowballs.

Feeling confident, Chopper decided to run up the hill, even if it would slow his speed down. The Pengulders, on the other hands, had tossed the snowball down, and as it got closer to Chopper, they began to get bigger in size. He thought he could destroy them, but he got caught in one of them and was sent rolling over to one of the trees at the bottom. The Pengulder who rolled the snowball couldn't help but laugh.

As Chopper got out of the snowball, he quickly shook his head and jumped back onto the snow, now appearing frustrated. There was no way he was going to let these snowballs get in his way this time. He ran up the hill again, this time jumping onto the cookie platform to avoid the snowball. When he had finally landed in front of the Pengulder, he took it down with a beam attack.

Well, that was one down, and only two more to go...

Thankfully, the next two Pengulders didn't give him too much of a problem. He decided to do the obvious and step out of the way of the next few snowballs and jumped on the enemies. While it took more to defeat them with a stomp compared to a Darkling, Chopper didn't care.

"OK... That takes care of that. Let's hope I'm getting closer to that village." Chopper said, running off through the open trail ahead.

* * *

**A moment ago-**

Two bats had come flying into the snowy area, and when they finally landed, they turned into Nazado and Shanine.

"All right. This is the place that Chopper should be-" Nazado had suddenly stopped and found himself shivering. "Oh, GEEZ! It is COLD here!"

"I can hypothesize that it is approximately-"

"I don't think that's important at the moment," the wizard intervened, silencing Shanine. "Now... Where can we find Chopper in this frozen wasteland?"

It was then that Shanine started to pick up something. "Nazado, there is something over by that ice."

Curious, Nazado followed his companion over to the ice. They noticed one portion of it had broke, and in the cold water, the Tartara Brute was left frozen solid.

"It's that Brute Lord Maquano sent to come here," Shanine confirmed.

Nazado looked at the Tartara Brute for a moment, and then he ended up bursting in laughter.

"HA HA HA HA! This freak got what was coming! ...But, if Lord Maquano heard that I left this fool here, I don't think he'd be too happy. Go fetch that heavy thing out, Shanine."

Nodding, Shanine used its strength to pull the frozen Tartara out of the water. That was when the Brute had managed to break through its frozen prison.

"I'm free at last!" the Tartara Brute roared, taking notice of the two. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, that's not what you should be saying to the people who saved your life!" Nazado scolded. "You're lucky we did you a little favor!

"Ugh... Whatever. Where did that kid go?"

"How the heck should we know? We just got here!"

"Fine. Well, I guess I better go find him. Perhaps he's going to that one village..."

Pressing a button on its wrist pad, a Tartara ship had flown in, and the Brute had jumped in, taking off. Once it left, Nazado was grinning evilly, which Shanine had easily noticed.

"Are you planning something?" Shanine asked.

"Of course," Nazado nodded, rubbing his hands in a scheming matter. "Come on, Shanine. We ought to go see this!"

With that, he and Shanine had transformed into Ice Drops, and they flew off in the direction the Tartara Brute was going.

* * *

**Back on the trail-**

Along the way, Chopper had come across another river in the way. Thankfully, there was a hill nearby with a bridge made up of chocolate bars, so getting through that was pretty easy. In fact, he thought he spotted a village dead ahead.

Only problem? There were more rolling apples around the trees on the trail. Not to mention a few Ice Drops flying above.

Chopper stayed careful, getting out of the way of the rolling apples and firing charged beam shots at the Ice Drops when they swooped down to attack. This was pretty easy for him, and soon he was away from the trees and continuing his way.

"I'm almost there..." Chopper trailed. "Maybe I'll find something there..."

After running through a loop and a snowy corkscrew over another river, Chopper had finally reached Sugar Village. It wasn't too big of a place, but the houses appeared to be made out of gingerbread, having frosting on the roofs, and delicious candy for doorknobs. There were some candy canes with Christmas lights wrapped around them, and the aurora in the sky gave off a bright radiance to the village. Nearby was also a large mountain, and off in the distance was a large body of water with chunks on ice floating.

To the Eskinians, this was nothing too special, but to Chopper, he couldn't set his eyes off it.

"This place makes me so hungry..." Chopper remarked, looking over at some of the giant gummy bears near the gate.

However, a shadow had loomed over the village, leaving him and some of the Eskinians to look above them. A Tartara ship had slowly began to land, causing some heavy wind to nearly make Chopper tumble back.

The Tartara Brute had stepped out of the ship, looking around the village. Many Eskinians ran into their homes in fear, while some had hid behind some candy canes. It had noticed Chopper, whose head was stuck in the snow for a brief moment. When he finally plopped out, he quickly shook his head and gasped at the Tartara Brute before him.

"Well, looks like I was right after all!" the Tartara Brute grinned. "How lucky...for me!"

"Wait... Didn't you fall in that water?!" Chopper gaped.

"Yeah. I did. But with a little help, I managed to get out! And do you know what that means?"

"Ummmmmmm..."

The Tartara Brute raised its hammer angrily. "IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!"

Instant the large opponent brought its hammer down onto the ground, creating a shockwave that sent Chopper flying back into one of the trees. He got up, and he started to run out of the village. However, the Tartara Brute had other plans...

"Oh no you don't!"

The Brute opened its mouth and exhaled a few fireballs at the exit. This had created a wall of fire that put Chopper to a halt, nearly scorching him.

"You're not going anywhere, Chopper! We're putting an end to this once and for all!" the Tartara Brute declared, letting out a roar that made even the air tremor.

Instantly the Tartara Brute leaped in the air to get closer to Chopper and tried to burn him with its fire breath. But since Chopper saw it coming, he had managed to run past it and fire a beam whip at the Brute.

"Argh!" the Tartara cringed, turning to Chopper, steam coming from its nostrils. "You'll pay for that!"

Gripping its hammer, the Tartara Brute began to spin itself rapidly, and it even began to move all over the place. Chopper thought maybe he could jump over the enemy, but he had gotten struck by the hammer and had got knocked back as a result. When the Brute stopped, it was satisfied to see Chopper get hit.

_"I've been waiting to finally hit him after this long..."_

Chopper quickly got up, not letting himself get beaten down so easily. He charged up a beam attack and fired an orb of energy at his opponent. Seeing it coming, the Tartara Brute brought its hand in the way, blocking it with ease, but it slightly knocked it back. Swiftly, Chopper had leaped in the air and stomped on its head. Though not as strong as his Beam attack, it did do some decent damage to the Tartara.

However, that only got the Tartara Brute to swat Chopper away while he was in midair.

As Chopper had managed to land on his feet, the Tartara Brute raised its hammer and slammed it on the ground. Remembering what he had done when training with Kumakan, Chopper managed to jump once a shockwave was made, and he landed on the hammer, leaving the Tartara Brute gaping.

"What the..."

"Take this!" Chopper yelled, delivering a charged beam attack to the face.

The Tartara Brute stumbled back, bumping into a tree and making it knock over due to its weight. Some Eskinians watching the fight were not too happy about that...

Chopper wasn't done with his attack just yet. An idea struck his mind, and he jumped again and aimed his wand at an angle at the Tartara Brute. He shot a beam attack at the enemy, which seemed more effective than a normal beam whip.

Shaking off the attack, the Tartara Brute snarled and began to jump in the air to crush Chopper. Though it didn't succeed in flattening him, the shockwave it made did managed to hit him. This gave the Tartara the opportunity to swing its hammer at Chopper. As a result, his Beam ability got knocked away.

Luckily, Chopper had managed to inhale the star, but rather than swallowing it, he spat it at the Tartara Brute, hoping to at least hit it. Unfortunately, it was no good when the Brute opened the palm of its hand and blocked it.

"Huh? How did that not work?" Chopper gasped.

"You should've realized from that other beam attack that I can block plenty of projectiles," the Tartara Brute smirked. "It's one of the major advantages I have, even if I'm on the slow side..."

Chopper dodged its hammer attack again, and all he could do was throw in a kick that stunned the Tartara Brute briefly. But he noticed that it didn't seem to do too much damage, to his dismay.

The Brute began to shoot more fireballs in his direction, so Chopper inhaled one of them and became Fire Chopper. He transformed into a fireball and charged into the Tartara Brute, but it easily blocked his attack and knocked away his ability in the process.

"You'll have to do better than that!" the Tartara Brute laughed.

Chopper had landed face-first on the snow, and standing up, he saw more fireballs coming his way. He inhaled them again, but he spat them out again. Still, the Tartara Brute blocked them all with ease.

"I'm surprised at how easy this is," the Brute remarked. "Sure, you may have gotten a couple of decent hits on me, but I'm still standing! And after you defeated Trinado, Stoneard, Steelfoot, and even Poisna, I thought you'd be a serious threat! I guess not... Well, time to finish this up!"

As Chopper watched the Tartara Brute raise its hammer, he suddenly remembered back when it had become frozen in the icy water. He then remembered a certain ability he had gained before...

After dodging the Tartara Brute's hammer, he spotted a snowman nearby and inhaled it, immediately gaining the Ice ability as a result.

"Oh, that ability again? What are you going to do, ice skate around the place?"

While Chopper was in midair, he let out a cold, icy breath that caused the Tartara Brute's eyes to widen in shock. Soon enough, it was shivering.

"S-So c-cold!" the Brute shivered.

While still in midair, Chopper clenched his fists and blew more ice breath, but he started to spin around while at it. His Ice Sprinkle had caused even greater pain to the Tartara Brute.

Once he landed, though, he was left in surprise by this act.

"Wait... That was me, right?" Chopper gawked. "Did that heart thingy do that, or was that me?"

"OK, maybe I was wrong about you..." the Tartara Brute hissed. "However, that will not be enough to stop me!"

It breathed more fire, but Chopper had began to exhale some ice breath to counter it. Both were pretty even, but in the end, Chopper's ice breath proved to be much stronger, making the Tartara Brute stagger back.

"This is for Zero," Chopper declared, spinning rapidly while ice skating and using his icy breath to hurt the Tartara Brute even more. "What did you do with him?"

"Urgh..." the Tartara Brute tried to shake off the cold, but it was no good. "I don't know what happened to that thing. I gave it to Lord Maquano, and then he took it off somewhere. The rest, I have no idea about."

"What?" Chopper gawked, surprised by these events. "You mean...?"

"I wouldn't say that thing's dead. Lord Maquano came back without it, so it's likely that it's still around somewhere."

"Oh... Thank goodness..."

Seeing the opportunity, the Tartara Brute swung its hammer and managed to knock Chopper back. He had crashed into a little snowman, causing it to fall over and break.

One little Eskinian girl had noticed the snowman break and gasped. She immediately ran out of her house, with her mother trying to pull her back in. Unfortunately, she was too late for that, and her daughter was left out in the open.

"Heh heh heh... You just gave me enough time to hit you, kid!" the Tartara Brute smirked, approaching Chopper. However, it noticed the little Eskinian girl going over to the broken snowman and sobbing. "Hmmmm? What's this?"

The girl soon found herself being lifted off the ground by the Tartara Brute's finger. She let out a cry, trying to get the Tartara to release her. However, that hardly did much to free herself.

"Well, now... It looks like we have a little guest!" the Tartara Brute said in a pleasant voice. "You know, I never got the chance to crush these people in this area. I think I know where to start! ...And you can cry all you want, but it's not going to help you here, I'm afraid."

When Chopper had finally gotten up, he saw the crying Eskinian girl swinging her arms and legs around, hoping it'd free herself. This had left him in shock.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Chopper exclaimed.

"Oh, I'm just having a little fun!" the Tartara Brute smirked, hammer ready to crush the Eskinian. From what Chopper saw, she looked to be around two years old.

"But... No! You can't do that! It's...wrong!"

"Not to me!"

The thought of this certainly did not make Chopper happy, and there was no way he wanted someone to get hurt in the process. It was at that point he felt the urge to do something, and instantly he sprang forward, and at blinding speeds, snatched the girl out of the Tartara Brute's grasps and landed on the floor, releasing the Eskinian girl. She quickly made a run back to her house while Chopper looked at the Tartara Brute with a serious look.

"You're such a jerk, trying to hurt that person!" Chopper yelled. "I'm going to make you pay for that!"

He instantly bolted toward the Tartara Brute, and before it could do anything, Chopper had leaped in the air, surrounding himself in an icy aura, and striking the Tartara Brute, sending it flying out of the village and crashing into the small mountain nearby. Chopper ice skated over to the Brute just in case.

But when the Brute got up, it was hurt so badly that it was holding its arm in pain and now limping. Chopper had come to a halt at the damage when he saw the Tartara Brute.

"You..." the Tartara Brute hissed. "How DARE you humiliate me like this!"

The roar was enough to make Chopper flinch.

"You are not the little boy that I had come across back in those mines... Something has seriously changed with you. That one attack in particular... How could you pull off something like THAT?!"

"_Did... Did I really do that?"_ Chopper thought. _"I feel like that was all me... But how did I do that?"_

The Tartara Brute grit its teeth in anger as a flaming aura began to surround its body. "I've never been forced to resort to this... But it looks like I have no other choice!"

Suddenly, the ground around them began to shake as the Tartara Brute led out a loud roar, causing fire to breathe out from its mouth. When it stared down at Chopper, the Brute's eyes were a flaming red.

"This will be the END of you!" the Brute declared, charging up a powerful fire attack. "Your days of trying to stop us are OVER!"

A bright flash had caused the Tartara Brute to stop its attack and look above. It started to notice the mountain's snow and rocks begin to crumble. The only problem? The rubble and snow was falling where it stood.

"Uh oh..."

It had all fallen on the Tartara Brute, and Chopper could only just stand there and watch in shock.

"What was that?!" Chopper gasped. He approached the rubble and tapped it, wondering if he'd get any response. He had gotten nothing. "Is that thing really...?"

His question was interrupted when he turned back to Sugar Village. The Eskinians there had started to come out, seeing that there was no monster around. Plus, they were curious about the noise as well.

Chopper had turned to face the Eskinians. A few of them were paying attention to the rubble, while some of them looked at him. Some were scared, while some were curious.

However, it was the little Eskinian girl that approached Chopper first, giving him a smile. Before he could say anything, she had took out a swirly, snowflake-shaped lollipop and held it in front of her as an offering to him.

At first, Chopper wasn't sure why she was holding it to him, but when she held it closer, he eventually took it from her hands and looked at it with a smile. Before he could eat it, he swore he heard the girl say something.

"Thank you," the Eskinian girl said softly.

"Ummmmm... You're welcome." Chopper nodded, looking off at the water and floating ice in the distance. "I think I need to get going now..."

He ice skated off toward the direction of the large body of water, while the little Eskinian girl and the others began to wave goodbye. They had finally returned to Sugar Village, and once they were back in their homes, two Ice Drops had shown up and transformed back into the two shape-shifters.

However, they weren't expecting to see the rubble.

"What the..." Nazado approached the rubble, and using his magic, removed it to reveal the frozen Tartara Brute. "Hold on... Did that kid defeat him or something?!"

Shanine had taken a look at the broken mountain and then back at the Brute. "It appears a part of the mountain had fallen on the Tartara."

"But... I was planning on doing something like this myself!" Nazado growled, angrily hitting his wand on the frozen Tartara Brute. Instantly, the ice shattered, along with the Tartara Brute. "Oh... I guess we won't be seeing that freak anytime soon..."

"How will we explain the news to Lord Maquano?" Shanine asked.

"We'll just have to think of something. ...That is, if he doesn't figure it out first." the wizard shrugged, looking up at the broken mountain. "Obviously this was not something Chopper was able to do himself... Who the heck was responsible for this act?!"

Nazado wasn't sure, but he thought he had spotted a rainbow trail on the small mountain.

* * *

**I'm not going to lie, this was actually a difficult chapter to write up. It's actually one of the few (but very little) reasons as to why I hadn't uploaded in quite a while. But, I definitely feel satisfied with the battle against the Tartara Brute and the little ending to it as well. ****I will admit, I wish I had put a little bit more into the area Chopper explored, but that's for the later chapters.**

**I'm also a fan of this snow area. Not because it's just a snowy area, but because I threw in a couple of interesting things, like all the food all over the place. I also wanted to make it stand out as something rather than just your typical snow area... In fact, I have some pretty neat ideas planned for later chapters as well!**

**I'm also a really big fan of the Ice ability, too. :P**


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